Star Of My Heart: Sister Dearest
by NickyRockit
Summary: After her breakup with Jake, Lexi is currently enjoying her friendship with Ace; still discovering her unknown feelings for him. Everything seems to go well for them until someone from Lexi's past decides return, will this complicate things again for them? Or will she take this opportunity to make things right? Sequel to Star Of My Heart.
1. It's time to heal

**IT'S HERE! THE SEQUEL IS HERE YAY! =D**

**I'm back peepz! And boy do I got another story to tell! Which I hope you'll all like as well as the prequel... Anyways, this story I hope it'll be less dramatic than the last one, but of course it'll have it's moments because HELLO?! It has to have it's moments in order to function and run properly. So far I've been having fun writing, and chapter 2 is almost done so hopefully that'll be posted soon as well. As for my art? I suffered of a major art block during my "writing break" hence why it took me so long to start writing... But I made a couple of pieces along the way, even though I still need to work on some pending requests... I also wrote a Motorcity One Shot, which wasn't planned and I apologize for posting that before this story... But I just had to get it out of my system, and what's important it's that it's here! It's FINALLY HERE! **

**Another thing I wanted to let you guys know is that I've taken the decision of officially making this story into a series, I'm officially writing a third story and MAYBE a fourth... Oh and a One Shot after this one which will also be part of the series! I also have another idea for a separate LU story but I don't know how I'll juggle with that... We'll see because I really REALLY love my idea and I REALLY want to write it down. **

**Disclaimers! I do not own Loonatics Unleashed, they belong to Warner Bros. I only own the idea of this story and every other character not involved in the actual series, including Laurie Bunny and Jake Rabbit.**

**ALSO! This is a sequel! If you have not read "Star Of My Heart" I suggest you read that before starting to read this story... Otherwise you'll feel lost in certain areas... Just sayin'**

**Ok without taking any more of your time, please enjoy Chapter 1! **

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It was a bit after mid January and the city was currently covered in a perfectly white coat of snow. People walking around the streets wrapped up in their winter coats and attire, walking around town enjoying their chilly evening, venturing through shops and dining in restaurants, enjoying time with their loved ones.

There was something about this night that made the occasion extra special, even though the temperature was ranging between 10-15 degrees the sky was clear, the stars were strangely visible in the city skies; since the usual brightness of the lights always made it a bit difficult to admire, but tonight it created a romantic winter feeling to it.

From an ice cream shop emerged two giggling bunnies into the sidewalk, two bunnies we all know so well as the leader and second in command of the city's superhero team called The Loonatics.

She giggled at what sounded like a freshly told joke, and he giggled along with her as they walked through the sidewalk. After a couple of seconds she finally managed to calm herself from the laughter. "Ok! I have to admit that was a good one!" She expressed to her best friend as he walked along with her.

"Ha! I told ya' I was feeling good tonight! I have a couple more up my sleeve if you're up to it?" He teased back.

She giggled before her response, "Honestly Ace, my stomach hurts, and it's not from the ice cream! It's from all the laughing!" There were a couple silent seconds before she continued, "But I have to admit, I had a blast with you tonight." She smiled at him as they walked.

He smiled back, "Well I'm glad you had a good time Lex, and most of all I'm glad we finally had the chance to go out for ice cream!" He complimented, and she chuckled at his comment.

"Yeah it was… But, please remind me how on earth did you convinced me to go out to eat ice cream with you in the middle of winter?" She finished her sentence while rubbing her arms, attempting to warm herself.

Ace furrowed his eyebrows and drew himself closer to her and slid an arm across her shoulders, "Awww, sorry Lex, but you have to admit, it's been a while since we've walked anywhere."

She chuckled at his words, "Yeah, and there's a reason for that!" She said scooping some snow from a building's railing and smashing it against his cheek.

The blow took the male bunny by surprise and she quickly escaped from his arm as he wiped the snow from his profile, a witty smile forming across his face, "Ahaha, you know this means war right?" He said teasingly to the female bunny who took the hint before the words escaped his lips and started to make a run as if her life depended on it.

He scooped some snow and rolled it into a ball as he started to run behind the female bunny.

/

The mallard stretched himself on the common room's sofa; wrapped in a fleece couch blanket, he was currently watching the evening news; specifically waiting for his beloved Misty Breeze's weather segment to air. It was a Sunday evening which explains why the team were out and about doing their own things, except Tech who was currently working in the Monitor room with some piled up repairs for some of their computers.

"Ahhh… Nothing like a promising evening, finally I have the TV to myself, some hot cocoa for this nasty cold weather and to warm my super awesome self…" He complimented to himself while he held his cup of cocoa and sniffed the beverage before he took a sip, "Ahhhh… Perfection…"

The swish of a door opening was heard, and the mallard couldn't help but frown at the sound. A zoom was heard and a roadrunner appeared before his eyes.

"Oh-man-Duck-you-gotta-see-this! Slam-just-broke-his-record-in-weights! He's-holding-our-entire-set-along-with-his-plus-th e-heavy-weights-we-have-in-the-corner! It's-amazing-dude-you-have-to-check-this-out-in-fa ct-I-recorded-him-and-all-but-it's-not-the-same-to -watch-a-recording-than-to-see-for-yourself!" Rev chanted as he excitedly jumped up and down in front of the now upset mallard.

"I spoke too soon…" Said Duck to himself, he sighed and set his mug on the coffee table but much to the roadrunner's surprise the mallard didn't stand, instead he annoyingly placed his hands on his hips, "Didn't anyone get the memo?"

"Wait-what-memo? Was-that-something-that-went-through-everyone's-co municators-intercoms-e-mails-text-messages-or-was- it-a-letter-that-was-left-under-my-door-or-did-you -actually-taped-well-not-taped-taped-but-actually- stuck-a-sticky-note-on-the-fridge-or-my-door?" Asked a confused Rev; taking his phone out from his pocket and started searching for Duck's supposed "memo".

Duck sighed and pressed a hand on his forehead in frustration, "No you idiot! I mentioned it this morning over breakfast, I said and I quote myself… That I didn't want to be disturbed today unless we had an actual emergency, which means…" He cleared his throat, "I don't care how many weights Slam lifted, I don't want to hear you ramble about it, I don't want to listen to the coyote talk about his science boring crap, and I certainly don't want to watch the floppy ears make goggly eyes at each other!"

The roadrunner was a bit lost of words at the mallard's crude honesty, "Excuse-you-but-I-do-not-ramble-I-talk-and-yes-it- may-be-really-fast-but-I-can't-help-that-I'm-a-roa drunner-and-on-top-of-that-I-have-super-speed-just -as-you-get-to-quack-and-Tech-gets-his-regeneratin g-powers-and-Slam-is-super-strong-and-Ace-has-cool -laser-vision-and-Lexi-can-shoot-brainblasts-throu gh-her-head! You-insult-my-super-speedy-talk-you-insult-our-pow ers-as-well!"

Duck scoffed at the roadrunner in front of him, "Please this isn't about yours or anyone's powers, it's about how annoying you can all get IN GENERAL! I swear! I can't even get a descent day off without having all of you fighting me for the remote, I have to listen to genius boy there talk in another language about his mumbo jumbo inventions, when I try to eat in peace and quiet I have Slam slobbering all around the place; not mention that he eats my plate as well! And then there's the drama bunnies, UGH! Don't even get me started on them! Thank goodness they took the hint and left for the evening! Unlike the rest of you…" Finished Duck, panting a bit from his little vent.

Rev's right eye twitched in annoyance, but instead he took a deep breath and huffed before he turned around and started walking away from him and into the monitor room, but was interrupted when his best friend was surprisingly walking out of said room.

"Hey what's all the commotion I hear? Honestly, can't a guy work in peace and quiet?" Asked an annoyed Tech.

"THANK YOU!" Yelled Duck, complimenting the coyote's words.

"Well! Actually-Duck-was-the-one-who-started-talking-and- talking-in-a-higher-voice-than-usual-so-if-you're- really-looking-for-someone-to-blame-it's-not-me-bu ddy! I-was-on-my-way-to-show-you-a-video-of-Slam-liftin g-all-of-our-entire-weight-collection-since-Duck-w asn't-really-interested-and-literally-yelled-at-me -for-trying-to-show-him! I-mean-what-kind-of-a-per-" Rev started explaining but was interrupted by Tech's hand who as usual clamped the roadrunner's beak.

"Ugh! Rev please! In fact both of you! I have a headache! I've been working with the computers the entire day, I am beyond than tired, and I'm not even half way done! I honestly don't feel like listening to any of you fight over something that I already knew!" He slowly let go of Rev's beak, hoping that he wouldn't regret his decision.

Duck took a deep breath, "Look bird brain! We just want to be left in peace for the rest of the evening, you can go back to Slam, which by the way I already knew he could lift all those weights, in fact he can lift way more than that… I should know, I train with him! But please… Just let me enjoy Misty's segment in peace and quiet as I was planning to do so since last year!" He finished his sentence with sarcasm.

Tech gave Duck a soft sarcastic chuckle, "You mean that one that just finished?" He said pointing to the screen, in which appeared Misty Breeze signing off from her segment.

Duck's jaw dropped in shock, and it was sooner than expected when he started sending hate glares at his two teammates. "You are both!-"

"Despicable… We know!" Tech and Rev chanted in unison, with a rather unimpressed tone.

The elevator door to the common room opened, and the room was suddenly filled with laughter and giggles, the three male loonatics couldn't help but to look in curiosity at the direction where the sound was coming from. Out stumbled Lexi, holding her stomach in laughter, her hair and part of her coat was covered in bits of snow, after her walked a snow covered Ace to the room as well.

Unlike Duck who frowned even more, annoyed by the presence of the loudly laughing duo, Tech and Rev delivered smiles to their leader and second in command.

"Ok! Ok, you won! But I demand a rematch sometime this week!" Declared Lexi who was now brushing the bits of snow from her coat.

"Only if you just want to be ambushed again!" Answered the male bunny who was now removing his snow wet gloves from his less than warmed hands.

Lexi rolled her eyes at the male bunny as she as well started to remove her gloves.

Duck rolled his eyes and raised a finger towards his open mouth mimicking a gagging gesture.

Tech cleared his throat to get the bunnies attention, since they seemed a bit lost in their own world.

Both bunnies jumped at the sound, and turned towards their three companions, "Oh… hehehe, didn't see you guys there." Admitted Ace delivering them a sheepish smile. Lexi didn't say anything, instead she just blushed a bit.

"So… How was your evening?" Asked Tech in a rather curious amusing soft tone.

Duck noticed this and his frown turned upside down as a mischievous smile grew on his beak now.

Lexi looked at Ace and then back at the guys, "Well cold…? We went for a walk and then _someone_ here decided we should get some ice cream!" She said secretly gesturing towards Ace, "But we had fun, I started a snow ball fight on our way back, which explains why we're a bit wet!" She expressed as a giggle escaped from her lips when she finished her sentence.

"But! I won!" Declared Ace with a victory smirk while ruffling her hair.

"Hey! It's a bit damped, now it's gonna get tangled!" She teasingly scolded him, to which Ace just shrugged and she playfully punched his arm.

"Sounds like you two had some _fun_." Commented Duck who raised an eyebrow to the duo and crossed his arms, his teasing smile never leaving his face.

Both Ace and Lexi noticed this, but only Lexi gave the mallard and the male bunny a confusing look. She was now removing her wet coat, "Umm… Anyways, I think I'm gonna go warm up a bit with a hot shower and then I'm just gonna go to bed, I'm just so tired."

Everybody started to say their goodnights to their female companion in unison, except Ace who waited for the rest to finish; for his to be more unique, "Good night Lex! Sweet Dreams!"

As she was walking away from them she heard their wishes for her which she smiled turned back to them and said, "Good night guys, and Sweet Dreams to you too Ace!"

Ace just smiled at his female companion, the rest noticing this; they couldn't help but smile at the scene.

Tech was about to turn and leave until he seemed to remember something, "Oh wait Lex!" He called to the female bunny. She stopped and turned towards the coyote to hear what he had to say, "I forgot, you got a call today while I was fixing the computers, the line was down so it was sent straight to video message, I transferred it straight to your line so it should show up in your screen."

She gave the coyote a curious confused look before she nodded, "Oh, thanks Tech." And now the curious look never left her face as she turned and walked to her room wondering who on earth would call her on the team's personal line, since she had her cellphone with her.

Ace's eyes widened in curiosity as well at the new piece of information, when she entered her room he glanced at Tech who to his surprised was already facing him with arms crossed, as if he was expecting for him to give him that look already. "Uh… Who called Lexi?" He asked in a sheepish tone.

Tech chuckled a bit, because after all he knew the male bunny wouldn't hesitate to ask, "Relax _Romeo_, it was girl." The rest chuckled at Tech's 'Romeo' remark.

Ace frowned for a split second at the teasing chuckles, but it didn't last long as he found himself chuckling as well when he realized how funny it actually sounded. "Oh ok, um… Did she say who she was?" Again he asked, trying to dig a bit of information from the coyote.

Tech sighed a bit, the exhaustion clearly visible in his eyes, but not even that could prevent him from enjoying watching his leader so curious about their female teammate's life. "No, I didn't play the entire message; just enough to know for who it was for, but she looked a lot like her, same fur and hair color, only difference is that she had half of her hair dyed in pink and she looked a slight bit older." Was the only piece of information the coyote provided, which seemed to confuse him since he didn't know who the girl was.

Ace had a hunch that he knew perfectly well who she was, and it wasn't too visible but he had a hint of worry in his features while he looked with concern at the female bunny's door.

"So…? How did it _really_ go?" Started Duck, the words bringing the male bunny back to reality, glancing back at his teammates in confusion.

"What?" Asked a confused Ace.

Both Rev and Tech chuckled at their leader's reaction, when they composed themselves they joined Duck in delivering him a teasing smile.

"Am I missing something?"

"Oh come on Ace! Did you finally asked her out or not?!" Blurted the mallard.

Ace's eyes widened in surprise and he quickly walked towards the mallard and clamped his beak in fear. "Will you quiet down you idiot! She has super hearing you know?!" He expressed in a rushed almost whispered tone.

"Oh come on Chief! It's been almost two months now, we all think it's about time!" Commented the coyote, with Rev strongly nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, are you just gonna wait for another _Jake_ incident to happen?" Added the mallard.

Ace frowned at his words and sighed, "It's not that simple guys, and _NO_ I am not waiting for another_ INCIDENT_ to happen!" Declared Ace with a bit of bitterness in his tone.

"What do you mean it's not that simple?! How hard is it to just walk up to her and say *AHEM* _'Hey baby, I like you, you like me, let's head out to the sunset and kiss until there's no tomorrow maybe make a baby or two while we're at it' _" Said Duck in a badly acted macho man tone and pose, he winked at the end of his sentence.

Tech, Rev and Ace couldn't help but to burst out in laughter at the mallard's _'sweet talk'_.

"Ok Duck! And that's exactly why I shouldn't take advice from you ever!" Said Ace as he wiped away the tears from his laughing tantrum.

Duck frowned at the trio and crossed his arms, "Well excuse you, but that happens to work for me."

"And-yet-you're-single!" Added Rev as once again he started laughing.

"Well what do you suggest then bird brain?! I don't see a girl with you at the moment either!" Shot Duck at the roadrunner.

Rev crossed his arms and glared at the mallard before he turned his gaze to Ace; softening his look, "Well-I-may-not-have-a-girlfriend-but-I-suggest-to -just-be-honest-with-her-you-know-buy-her-some-nic e-flowers-and-candy-and-tell-her-how-you-really-fe el-then-wait-for-her-reaction-which-I-hope-and-I-e xpect-it'll-be-very-positive-since-she-obviously-l ikes-you-back! I-mean-not-that-I've-heard-her-say-it-or-anything- but-it's-obvious-she-likes-you-since-she's-always- with-you-and-always-talking-to-you-I-mean-she-seem s-to-like-you-more-than-the-rest-of-us-not-that-we -care-because-we-don't-like-her-like-her-like-you- like-her-like-her-not-that-we-dislike-her-but-you- get-the-picture! He-he-he!"

Rev's words made Ace a bit more nervous about the subject, not that he didn't trust his teammates, heck! now his feelings weren't even a secret. When Jake and Lexi broke up almost two months ago, not to anyone's surprise… It made quite a scandal, as Jake predicted it was in the tabloids the next day. Rumors of Lexi having a secret affair with Ace while being with Jake, yeah it was a pretty nasty aftermath, but Lexi decided to not pay attention to what the tabloids had to say, the three of them knew it wasn't true and even if the world thought otherwise; in their minds remained the peace of the reality. Instead, Lexi focused on getting back on track with the team and her training, her friendship with Ace and recovering from her breakup with Jake.

Tech noticed Ace's uneasiness so he walked up to the leader and placed a supporting hand on his shoulder, "Look Chief, I guess we're all just anxious to finally see it happening. But don't listen to us, if it's gonna happen it will, at your time, and most importantly whenever you're ready." Consoled the genius to the leader.

Ace smiled at Tech's words, "Thanks Tech, it will happen guys… It's just that, and I know it may sound weird, but I think she's not completely over the whole Jake thing. She doesn't really talk about it, but whenever he's on TV or she see's a picture of him she gets a bit… Well… Uneasy...? I just want to give her some time, I really don't want to just jump there when I have a feeling that she's not completely ready. And besides I kinda have it planned already." He admitted.

The rest nodded understanding the leader's explanation, but also smiled with excitement at the information about his plan, and looked at their leader with expectation.

"Well then when is it? When's the big day?!" Begged Duck, the rest curiously looking at Ace for his answer.

Ace nervously looked at his teammates, "Valentine's Day." He added.

"What?! You're gonna wait almost a month to just ask her out?! Are you insane?! You know you're just wasting time here right?! Oh yeah! I see another Jake incident happening here that's for sure!" Expressed Duck in frustration, hysterically flailing his hands in the air.

Ace frowned at Duck's reaction, Tech and Rev on the other hand seemed quite pleased with the information.

"Well-that'll-be-sweet-I-think-she'll-like-that!" Commented Rev happily smiling.

Tech nodded in agreement, "Yeah, and don't you guys usually go out every year for Valentine's Day already?"

And it's true, ever since their friendship started; Ace and Lexi made the tradition of going out for Valentine's Day, to celebrate their friendship. Sure to the rest it may have seemed like a date, but to them it has always been a friendly gesture, not to mention that it was always a casual thing, it was never something fancy. It was usually going out for pizza, or ice cream and goofing around like they usually do. Occasionally they would exchange a gag gift with each other, just for the fun of it.

"Yeah we do, but this year it'll be different… See I won't be taking her to eat pizza or anything like that, I'm gonna take her somewhere nice, and well… Ask her." He nervously admitted.

"And it'll go well Chief." Gladly added Tech, with Rev nodding.

Duck huffed, "I still say you're wasting your time…" Commented the mallard in a low unimpressed tone.

"Well let's just hope not…" Added Ace before he headed towards his room for the night.

/

Lexi was walking out of her steamy bathroom, already dressed in her pajamas and towel drying her hair; walking towards her nightstand in which a device with a blinking light rested on top. She threw the towel on her hammock and nervously pressed the blinking button. A holographic screen popped in front of her and a very familiar face showed up, which surprised the female bunny as her eyes widened in slight amusement. She pressed the play button on the screen and the message started running.

The female bunny on the screen, like Tech stated, looked very similar to Lexi. Half of her hair was dyed in a shocking pink color, her eyes were a bit darker than Lexi's but they still contained that pure emerald green on them, her lips were stained with a dark fuchsia color, her eyes heavily shadowed with dark makeup, and like Lexi, she wore a ribbon on her laid back ears; only hers was purple.

"Hey Lex… I don't have your cell number so I called the tower instead, I hope that's ok. I know that we haven't talked in forever, and yeah I blame myself for that; even mom gives me a hard time for it. But, I just wanted to let you know that I'm back in town, I have a couple of job interviews next week, and I was hoping to see you, and well catch up with you, and hopefully start things fresh. I know that what I did in the past wasn't right, and I know we didn't have the best relationship in the world but trust me sis, I regret it all. And you don't have to agree with me, I don't expect you to… Because I don't deserve it, I don't deserve your forgiveness. But I really do wish to make things right with you, so if you're interested in meeting up with me then give me a call back, I would really appreciate the opportunity. I'm currently staying with some friends, but yeah… Just give me a call if you want to. Alright, bye!"

Lexi heavily sighed in frustration at the message.

"Why now?" She asked to herself, she looked around confused and unsure of what her next move should be, and instead of dialing back she pressed another button combination on her screen, where another familiar face popped up, towel drying his head as well.

"Uh… you ok Lex?" Asked a confused Ace, and she blushed a bit when she noticed that he didn't had a shirt on.

She mentally slapped and composed herself, she lightly cleared her throat and continued to her conversation, "Ugh, no! That message I got?! It was Laurie…" She said rolling her eyes in annoyance.

Since Ace already had a clue that the message was from Laurie he wasn't as surprised as Lexi was, in fact he was kind of expecting this to happen. "Well? What did she say?" He asked.

Lexi sighed again and rubbed her forehead in frustration, "She says she's in town for a job interview, and that she wants to meet up with me, and make things right and blah blah blah…" She paused and shook her head in denial; to herself mostly, "I just… I don't know if I should trust her you know? She's done so much harm to me before, her own flesh and blood, and it's just hard for me, I've gone through so much lately that I don't know if I'm ready to let her back in my life, I'm done with drama, and I'm afraid that it'll get back to the way things were, I mean there's a reason why she's not part of my life anymore." She finally admitted.

Ace nodded, acknowledging her words, "I know, but what if you never try Lex; there's the chance that you might also regret this opportunity. You don't have to do it if you don't really want to, but what if she really wants to change, what if she really means it. And you and I both know that deep inside Lex, you really do want to make things better with her. In my opinion, I'd say go for it! Who knows maybe this is your chance to finally have the relationship with your sister that you've always wanted."

Lexi nodded at her best friend's advice, a hand supporting her chin, "I know, it's just that I'm just scared." she admitted.

"I know you are, but maybe it's time to heal Lex, it's been a couple of good years. You're both adults now, different scenarios, you're not living together anymore… I mean what if she gets that job? She'll be closer to you! And you'll finally have a someone from your family close by. Think about it, if she's trying; it means she cares, maybe this is something you both need."

Lexi once again nodded, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right! I'm Ace Bunny!" He teased.

Lexi rolled her eyes and chuckled, "Ok wonder boy! Tell you what, I'll sleep on it." She suggested.

"Atta girl! Sweet Dreams Lex!"

"Sweet Dreams Ace…" She softly said before she shut the screen off.

She sat on her hammock and stared at her room's communicator in thought, she looked at the time… 9:15 p.m.

She touched the button again and the screen popped up, the callback number from the message in clear view, her fingers nervously reaching the number, but she pulled back with sudden regret. She glanced back at the time… 9:16 p.m.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and touched the number, hoping she wouldn't regret her decision…

_'So much for sleeping on it'_ She thought to herself as she nervously heard the dialing tone.

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**Please pretty please review! Love -Nicky!**


	2. Regret me not

**Another chapter! WHOOO! Actually this has been laying in my desktop for a bit... Sorry guys, I guess I was waiting to get a bit more reviews. Anywho, I do want to thank those who did review! Even though I want to remind a couple of you that this is a sequel, and I highly recommend you read the first story before this one. I've seem to notice that some of the reviews I'm getting are from people who are taking this story as a new one and that is not the case, this is a sequel. Now I may be wrong and if I am please correct me! Hehehe!**

**Not that I mind if people want to read this story without reading the first one... But just as a warning that there will be content mentioned *AHEM* (not to spoil anything) that was part of the prequel. Anywho for those who haven't read it and are now interested, you can find it in my page. And no hard feelings, it's just that I'm not getting the vibe of "finally the continuation is here!" Just a tip! ;)**

**Well enjoy guys! I'm currently halfway done the third chapter so... sometime this week maybe? Keep your eyes open for the next chappie! ;)**

**Oh and please review guys, the more reviews I get the more motivated I get to keep writing! :)**

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After what sounded like 7 rings, Lexi was ready to hang up her call, and just as she was reaching for the end selection; the dialing stopped and before her appeared a very familiar female bunny. She nervously retrieved her finger from the button and looked up at the girl before her.

"Laurie?" She asked, and even though the question sounded stupid she just had to ask herself, she never imagined herself calling her sister, no, not after everything that happened, and she swore she would never have the need to contact her sibling.

"Hello Lexi, it's been a long time… Even though it's through a camera, but it's good to see you. I'm guessing you got my message!" She happily greeted her sister.

But to Lexi it sounded foreign, it wasn't natural of her to just smile back at her and say the same; she just felt confused and now she wanted to just hang up and block her number and address from the entire connection. But it was too late for that, Laurie just smiled at her sister patiently waiting for her response. "Yeah… I got the message." Lexi answered in a rather shocked tone.

"So…? What do you say sis?" Asked Laurie with hope clearly visible in her emerald orbs.

Lexi shook her head to bring herself back to reality, the gesture made the caller frown a bit. "Oh… I- I understand…" Responded a now disappointed Laurie.

Lexi looked at her confused, unaware of the result from her sudden gesture. "What? No, Laurie wait! I mean… Yeah, I would love to meet up. It's just that, I don't know it just feels so weird to be talking to you again." Admitted the Loonatic's second in command.

Laurie's frown remained, but she looked back at her sister with understanding eyes and nodded. She sighed before she responded, "I know it is Lexi, but trust me; it hasn't been easy for me either, and that's exactly why I decided to contact you… I really want to make things work, and this time I mean it. You're my little sister Lexi, and I've failed you, I've hurt you, and it's eating me up Lex! All these years I've wanted to call you, but I just didn't have it in me…" Laurie looked away from Lexi in shame, her eyes lowering and her eyebrows furrowing.

Lexi looked back at her sister with pity, Laurie was always better than her, prettier, popular and successful… Until the meteor, then everything changed. She dropped out of college, and her mom kicked her out of her house as a cause of her rebelliousness. Turns out Laurie wasn't as successful as she thought she was, with no education and working as a waitress in several restaurants, her infamous dancing and modeling talent has paid a couple of her bills, but the industry was very competitive hence the lack of success. Lexi nodded, even though she has hurt her in the past she couldn't deny that her sister has seen the darker days as well, and she didn't know if it was karma paying her dues but she knew how it felt to be at the bottom, and quite frankly it was something that she didn't desire to anyone… Not even Laurie.

She nodded, "Alright, where are you?" Asked Lexi with determination.

Laurie looked back at Lexi with a bit of confusion and surprise, "What? Um… Maybe like 2 to 3 blocks away from you why?"

She didn't want to say it out loud, but knowing Laurie; it was a little hard to accept the fact that she had any "friends"… So she warmly smiled at her sister, "Because Laurie, it's almost 10:00 p.m. , and it's only going to get colder out so you might want to have a place to stay."

The older sister looked blankly at the younger sister and sighed, "Ok, you got me! Maybe I'm not staying with some friends like I said… But I really do have a couple of job interviews next week. I'm currently drinking coffee at a diner like 3 blocks away from you, and was planning on renting a cheap motel room… Somewhere…" She worriedly looked outside the window then back at Lexi.

"And that's exactly why I'm going to ask you to get your fluffy snow bunny cottontail to the tower! I'm not gonna let you spend the night at some cheap killer motel… Who knows what might happen to you?! And that my sister would only make me feel bad." Said Lexi smiling.

Laurie's face lightened with grace, she never expected Lexi to actually invite her to stay with her in the tower, in fact that was far beyond her plans. But it happened, and she was grateful for the kind gesture, she nodded thankfully at Lexi while holding her now cold cup of coffee, she took one last gulp at the bitter beverage before she grabbed her belongings and pulled some loose change from her pockets, threw it on the table and started towards the Loonatic's tower.

The call faded, and Lexi just took a deep breath as the image before her disappeared. She nervously looked around her room and thoughtfully scratched her head, re-thinking what just happened. There was no space for her sister in her room, they did have an extra guest room that was a bit down the hall… Perfect! She thought stepping out of her room and using her super hearing to check if the rest were still awake… 'Negative.'

She walked to the common room and pulled her snow boots and coat on, she disarmed the tower's security system and pressed the elevator's door open, she stepped inside and down she went to wait for her sister. And as she rode down, she thought about how she was basically bringing a stranger into the tower, it wasn't just the fact that this was her sister… It's the fact that the rest didn't even know she had one, except of course Ace; who knew the girl as if she was his favorite book. And she suddenly felt bad, like she was breaking a rule or something, sure Laurie was her sister, but truth is she sadly knew absolutely nothing about the girl! At least not after the meteor, before she only knew how much she hated her for making her life a living hell. But for now she just hoped that things change between them, praying that this wasn't another of Laurie's games to once again get to Lexi, that she wasn't just using this excuse to have a place to sleep… To make her way into her new and better life and ruin it… To take everything away from her like she enjoyed so much doing in the past… Taking her friends away… And him…

Lexi's eyes widened at the thought and for a split second she had to press her hand on the elevator's wall for support as it finally made a stop. _'No, no… Oh what am I doing? I shouldn't be doing this…'_ She thought to herself with slight regret as the doors opened, and she was suddenly brought to reality when she saw a female bunny standing outside the cold snowy sidewalk; carrying what looked like a duffel bag.

Laurie turned around at the sound of the door opening, her bag falling from her grasp and into the snow. She made a run for her sister and excitedly hugged her, Lexi returned the embrace and in that warm moment every bit of regret disappeared before her very eyes, after all this was the first time she could recall hugging her. The hug lasted for what seemed like minutes to the bunny sisters, when they finally parted, Laurie's eyes glimmered with happiness, and for some strange reason Lexi's mirrored the same reaction. They both smiled and laughed at the moment, and again Laurie hugged her beloved baby sister one last time.

"I'm so sorry Lexi, for everything!" She whispered into the young bunny's ears.

She nodded, somewhat accepting her apology, "So am I…" Responded Lexi as she parted from the hug.

Laurie chuckled a bit, and made sort of a squealing sound of excitement, "I just can't believe it! I'm finally here hugging my little sister!" She expressed.

"I know right?!" Lexi chuckled back, then her gaze fell to the duffel bag laying on the floor. "Alright, lets get inside; the longer we stand here the sooner we'll literally turn into snow bunnies!" She joked, and Laurie laughed back at her comment, walking back to her bag and picking it up. She walked along her sister and into the elevator that would take them to the common room. Lexi pressed the right button and up they went to the 125th floor, Laurie stared in shock at the level then back at her sister.

Lexi noticed this, "What? You ok?"

Laurie looked back at her amazed, "You actually like… have all these floors? I mean we're really going to a 125th level?"

Lexi chuckled at Laurie's naiveness, "Yes, don't worry I used to have the guys label the levels for me at first. I didn't know which level was which!"

Laurie smiled and then nervously shuffled her feet on the elevator's floor, "The guys huh? So what's it like to live with 5 boys?"

Lexi furrowed her eyebrows at the question, not meeting her eyes and unsure of her true intentions, "It was… It wasn't easy at first, I had a bit of trouble with getting to know them… Beyond my comfort zone. I mean HELLO! They're boys!" she nervously chuckled at the end of her sentence and now they were met with a slightly awkward silence.

Laurie softly cleared her throat, "Well I can only imagine…" She commented.

"Yeah… Mom flipped at first that's for sure, and Dad…" She paused her sentence, Laurie noticed this and fully faced her sister sadly placing a hand on her shoulder, motioning her to continue. "Dad was really upset… He didn't want me to be part of this…"

"I know, I guess he was just worried about something bad happening to you… You know how he gets. And yet, things have turned out good for you Lexi. You are one of the most respected girls in this city." She added, and Lexi couldn't help but to warmly and gratefully smile at her sister.

"Thanks… " And the elevator came to a stop, when the doors opened Lexi stepped out first, turning towards her sister and placing a finger on her lips; signaling her to be as quiet as she could since it was late and the guys were sleeping. Laurie nodded and followed Lexi to her room.

Once inside, she closed the door and let out a loud playful sigh which only made Laurie look at her with a bit of confusion. Lexi noticed and as she was starting to remove her coat she started to laugh. "Relax Laurie, my room is sound proofed since I have super hearing." She finished pointing to her now laid-back ears.

"Oh yeah that's right!" She chuckled at her sister's comment while she as well started to remove her coat. She curiously looked around her room and then back at Lexi, who now sat on her hammock. "Wow, you have quite a room here Lex…" She started, freely walking around and examining her belongings, she reached the vanity and looked back at her sister, "Nice vanity!" She expressed surprised at her extent collection of beauty products.

Lexi frowned a bit at her comment, and started walking towards it. "Yeah… It was a gift." She sadly admitted now standing next to Laurie.

Laurie noticed her change in tone and sadly looked at her, then back at the vanity; softly nodding as she finally understood, "It was from him right?" Lexi looked at her a bit taken aback by the comment, but softly nodded. "Jake…" She finally said.

Lexi turned her face back to the vanity and nodded again, "Yeah… Jake…"

"Yeah, we saw everything in the tabloids… It's how mom and I found out!" Laurie paused and gave a soft chuckle, softly and playfully elbowing Lexi, "Lucky you sis!"

Lexi smiled and defeatedly chuckled back, "Well he was a really nice guy… But, I guess we weren't meant to be." She admitted now walking back to her hammock. "Hey the bathroom is there if you need to take a shower or anything… You'll be sleeping in the guest room, but it has no bathroom so we'll have to share mine."

Laurie nodded, but she held a bit of questioning in her look, "So are the rumors true?" She asked a bit unsure about the subject.

Lexi's eyes widened at her question, and she confusedly shook her head blushing a bit, "Uh… What rumors?" She asked not meeting her eyes.

"You know… the one that you and Jake broke up because you…" She paused for a bit, analyzing her words; not wanting to offend Lexi in any way. "You know because you supposedly had an affair with Ace?" She gave Lexi a nervous smile.

Lexi was blushing and there was no denying it, still not meeting her eyes she responded, "No, they aren't true… That's what the media wanted to see. You know to have a good juicy story to publish." She sadly responded looking down at her lap.

Laurie looked at her with guilt when she noticed Lexi's current state. If it was the past she would have probably laughed at Lexi's face for such horrible thing happening, not to mention that she would probably try and take both guys away from her, even if one never really belonged to her. But no, she's changed, and her scars are proof of the hurt she's caused Lexi, because at the end it was that little bunny who succeeded in life, the bunny she frequently tried to bring down.

"I'm sorry…" Said Laurie with a bit of regret for bringing the subject.

Lexi nodded and delivered her a warm smile, Laurie really was a different person and it just surprised her with each passing moment how much of a stranger was the girl standing before her. "It's ok, I'm ok and the three of us are ok so…" She carelessly shrugged, "I guess that's what really matters right? We know what really went down and that's what's keeping us all at peace."

The big sister smiled and nodded, "Yeah, you're right! But you still looked pretty close with Ace in those pictures…" She said teasingly.

Lexi's cheeks again burned crimson and her eyes widened, "Well… Aha… I mean yeah, we're really good friends. But that's it… I mean he's the closest one to me in this tower, and I'm not just saying that just because he's also a bunny… But he's the first friend I made here, and we're all friends don't get me wrong, but we just… Bond better I guess?" She sheepishly admitted.

Laurie chuckled, "I'm just teasing you Lex, although he is kinda cute." She said thoughtfully.

And now Lexi's cheeks burned, but now it wasn't just because of the blushing but with a hint of anger also, she softly coughed and slightly glared at her sister, "Laurie, I wanted to talk to you about something…" She paused, and Laurie looked at her with a bit of curiosity, "Look I know you're going to be staying here for a couple of days, and while it'll be good for us to finally rebuild our relationship, but… I live with 5 more guys, and well…" She nervously paused, but Laurie already knew where she was getting at, "You know… No funny business ok? These guys are my teammates, and I don't mean to sound hostile or anything, you said you've changed, and well I want to believe you, and part of me already does; but just… You know, try not to get involved with any of them?" She politely and nervously asked her.

Laurie blinked and chuckled a bit, "Wait you thought that I was going to…" She chuckled a bit more, "Lexi! I am not like that anymore, In fact I haven't even dated a guy in like 3 years now. I mean yes, I have met a couple of guys along the way, but not like I used to be…" She paused and shamefully looked down, "Look Lexi, I know that well… Look I know what I did to you was wrong and I've learned my lesson. I've literally hit rock bottom with guys…" She looked away her eyes glimmering and threatening to spill.

Lexi's expression now changed to a more concerned one as she looked at her sister, "Laurie what's wrong?"

She shook her head, "Ok I was fooling around with guys I get it! And I had this one guy who literally proposed and I accepted… Mom doesn't even know about this… Anyways, as my usual self, I thought that was cute and all; his family despised me, and of course I was fooling around on the side and got caught…" She paused and now a tear finally slipped down her cheek, "He found out and… He beat the hell out of me, and… Almost you know…" She said looking away.

Lexi's jaw dropped and her eyes widened at the new piece of information, she was speechless and yet she found herself walking towards her sister and hugging her, Laurie was surprised by Lexi's reaction but nonetheless decided to find the comfort in her as she hugged her back. "I'm so sorry you went through that…" Expressed a rather saddened and shocked Lexi. She broke the hug and stared back at Laurie, "Did you call the police, report the guy? Anything?" She asked in a serious tone.

Laurie sadly shook her head, "No… I was just so afraid, I just got my stuff out of our apartment and just returned back home! But mom didn't really want me there, we weren't really getting along under the same roof so I've been… Traveling a lot? And staying with my old co-workers… And wherever I can… That's why decided to come back to the city, I wanted a change, get a better job and chance everything!" She said, now both were walking towards Lexi's hammock and sat down.

"What kind of job did you applied to?" Asked a curious Lexi.

Laurie nervously fiddled with her purple ribbon, "One of them is… Bar tending, the other three are dancing…"

The younger sister gave the older one a rather confusing look, "Dancing?"

Laurie nodded, "Yes, I know I never finished my dancing arts mayor, but I'm still pretty good Lex, and there are three places looking for a choreographer, I mean by now I don't care what job I get, even if I start bar tending at least it'll be a start right?"

Lexi nodded but couldn't help but to feel a bit uneasy by her choice of jobs, and true Laurie was a very skilled dancer, it was her who inspired Lexi to get into cheerleading and gymnastics in the first place; but knowing Laurie she had a feeling that this was a bit beyond just a simple choreographing job. She decided to shrug it off.

"Alright, it's getting late, why don't you go and get a shower; there's cleaned towels next to the sink. I'll set up the guest room so you can finally have some rest, you must be tired." Commented Lexi while standing and making her way towards the door.

Laurie nodded and stood grabbing her bag and heading for the bathroom, she paused at the frame and turned to look at her sister, "Hey Lexi?"

She stopped and looked back at her older sister in curiosity.

"Thanks, thanks for giving me the chance…"

Lexi smiled warmly at her sister and nodded, "No problem sis." And off she went through the door, and Laurie resumed to her shower.

There wasn't really much to set on the guest room, so she just took freshly cleaned linen from the closet and set it on the bed along with some clean towels. By the time she headed back to her room Laurie was already showered and warmly dressed in her pajamas.

"Alright everything's set! If you need anything, I left a note with my personal room line, including communicator and cell, so you can give me a call if you need me. I'll probably be up early tomorrow, so I'll talk to the guys about having you stay here for a couple of days, which shouldn't be problem really…" She explained as she walked towards her hammock.

Laurie nodded, her duffel bag hanging across her shoulder as she started to walk out of Lexi's room.

"Oh! And once you exit my room, you'll find the guest room on your far left, it's the last door on the hallway!" Explained Lexi.

Laurie once again nodded, "Ok! Thanks sis!" She replied while walking out to the hallway and towards said room. Once she arrived at the door she noticed there was a keypad next to it, she tried walking towards it but the door didn't automatically open. Confused she placed her bag on the floor and touched a random button on the pad, but nothing happened… She sighed a bit frustrated and turned to walk back to Lexi's room but stopped when the sound of a hissing door lured through her surroundings. She froze for a second and her eyes immediately fell upon Lexi's door, hoping that Lexi realized that she forgot to mention a supposed code for her room… But it wasn't her door, it was the one next to hers, and out walked a grunting groggy male gray bunny.

Her eyes widened and she quietly yelped at the sight of Ace, which he caught and immediately turned his head towards her, his eyes suddenly glowing yellow at the unknown voice. His enhanced vision helping him to confirm that the being next to him wasn't a threat, he powered down and his eyes returned to his normal sapphire blue.

He curiously tilted his head towards the female bunny, she nervously looked back and sighed, this wasn't going anywhere; and surely he was waiting for an explanation. After all the guys didn't know that she was suddenly staying at the tower, so she didn't blame him for reacting so… Defensive towards her…

"Um… Hello?" She started taking a slow step towards him.

Ace took a step towards the wall and switched the lights to the hallway on, finally and clearly revealing themselves. "Uh… Hi?" He confusedly responded.

She mentally slapped herself, this was stupid! She had to give the boy in front her an explanation, and this was unusual but she was never this shy or hesitant when it came down to meeting people… "Oh, I'm sorry, you must be Ace!" She started, relaxing her posture and giving him a kind welcoming smile. She walked towards the now dumbfounded male bunny, "I'm Laurie! Lexi's sister." She said, extending a friendly hand towards Ace.

Ace was still confused, but as he registered her words he extended his hand as well and shook it, "Oh! Nice to meet you…" He paused and retrieved his hand, carefully examining her, he then shook his head and furrowed his eyebrows at her, "I'm sorry, but I just didn't know you were staying with us…" He said confusingly scratching the back of his neck and thinking to himself 'Why on earth was I not informed of this?'.

The comment made Laurie feel slightly uncomfortable and a bit unwelcome, but she couldn't blame him if he didn't know… It's to be expected!

"Oh, hehehe… Yeah… See I just happened to be in town and well I talked to Lexi and she invited me to stay here…" There was a brief silence, and Ace was still starring at her in thought. She lightly and timidly scratched her throat, "I hope that's not a problem? She said that she was going to speak with you guys about it in the morning."

Ace understood, and decided to leave his mental questioning about their unexpected guest for his best friend's explanation. So he nodded and he finally smiled to the girl, "Oh ok, No it's no problem Laurie."

She gratefully nodded and was about to speak, but Ace beat her to it, "So… What are you doing in the hallway this late though?" He curiously asked.

Laurie blushed a bit embarrassed, she nervously chuckled before she responded, "Well, Lexi said I could stay in the guest room and I was just walking from her room to the guest room, but apparently there's a code or something? And she kind of forgot to mention that so I was walking back to her room to get the code…" She explained.

Ace nodded understanding her words, and now he walked right passed her and towards the guest room giving her a light chuckle, "You know… I know the code as well so you don't really have to wake her up." He said reaching the pad and punching the code in, the door finally opened and he pointed rather victorious towards the opened room.

Laurie gave him a sheepish smile, "Well thanks!" She said walking towards the entrance and picking up her bag and finally entering the room.

"You're welcome!" He gladly responded, "Now the code is, 1720… I still don't know why the guest room needs a code, but yeah I guess it came with the whole code package thing… Everything here has a code!" He informed the female bunny who was now looking around the room and making herself familiar with it. She placed her bag on a chair next to a dresser, and turned towards the male bunny with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh? Everything has a code?" She inquired rather surprised.

He chuckled lightly at her, "Well not _everything_, I mean don't worry! The good news is that you don't need a code to use the bathroom!" He joked.

She nervously chuckled back at his words.

"Well, I guess I should leave you to sleep now, it's rather late…" Declared Ace, as he was now turning to leave the room.

"Oh, ok... Wait!" And he stopped and curiously turned back to her, "Why were you up so late?" She curiously asked.

Ace thought the question was a bit strange, but still decided to answer, "Oh! I was just going to the kitchen to get a glass of water… But then I saw you, and yeah here we are!"

Laurie nodded and mentally slapped herself, "Oh of course you are… Hehehehe…" She nervously chuckled.

He was now awkwardly standing at the frame of the door; staring at her in silence, "Ok… Do you need anything? Water? Food?" He asked politely.

She gave him a sheepish smile and nodded, "Actually… I haven't eaten anything in hours, I only have a cup of coffee in my system."

Ace gave her a warm smile and nodded back, "Well the kitchen is not too far, and I was heading there already so…" He suggested pointing towards the hallway.

"Yeah! Actually that's great!" She gladly added walking out of the room and now following Ace down the hall. She glanced at her sister's door and for a split second thought about knocking it and letting her know about her sudden trip to the kitchen but her thoughts were interrupted by Ace's voice.

"You coming?" He asked pausing and raising a questioning eyebrow to her.

She looked back at the male bunny, a bit confused and nodded walking until she caught up with him and now they both walked towards the kitchen…

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**Reviews please! Yes?! :D**


	3. Leave the past behind

**A/N: So sorry it took me so long to update, I had a bit of problem time wise. I've been busy lately since it's summer, and I've been working a lot, and while that used to be good for my writing it's not when it's been really busy at work. I've also been working on some art, which is something I also want to remind you all... This story will come in a slower pace compared to the last one, the reason is because I don't want to go into another art hiatus like last time. Don't worry I will never abandon this story! :)**

**Thanks for the reviews guys! But please keep it up, you guys have no idea how excited I get whenever I get an e-mail and it's a comment on my stories! It's an amazing feeling not to mention that it motivates me even more to keep writing! ^_^**

**Another reason for taking a bit in the near future... I just got tattooed on my right wrist and while I'm typing right now, it's kind of uncomfortable to have long writing sessions, so I'll be writing at a slower pace, I really want this ink to heal properly and I don't want to damage or hurt myself... Just so you guys know... _**

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The beeping of the alarm clock beamed through the room, the female bunny lazily turned towards the device and with a heavy hand deactivated the alarm, which read 6:00 a.m.

The heavy and groggy feeling in her body letting her know that she was indeed suffering of the usual case of the Mondays! Oh how she despised Mondays. It meant back to business, getting back to piled up reclaims/work and minor distressed calls from the past weekend… That is if Zadavia didn't call with an actual emergency for the day. She was now sitting on her hammock, her body still under the covers as she stood along with her comforter; she slowly walked to her bathroom, the covers finally meeting the floor, it sure was a cold morning; it's a good thing their winter suits were re-designed by Tech and now they contained a self heating technology, not really messing with the original design and concept but still very useful for this cold weather.

She was now washing her face and brushing her teeth, when done; again she grabbed the covers and threw them over her like a hood while she walked towards her closet and pulled out her black and pink suit. Letting the comforter fall once again; she started undressing from her night clothes and into her beloved Loonatic's uniform.

Now fully dressed, she let out a sigh of relief as she felt her body and suit adjusting the temperature to a more warmer one. "That's better…" She spoke to herself in a relieved tone while dragging the comforter back to her hammock and placing it neatly on top. When done; she started walking towards her door, it opened and she was suddenly met with the smell of… She quirked an eyebrow towards the kitchen, sniffed and analyzed the smell, "Blueberry pancakes?" She confusedly asked herself. _'That's weird! I don't think I've ever recalled the guys making blueberry pancakes… Specially on a Monday!'_ She thought to herself but shrugged it off and started to make her way towards the kitchen to meet with the rest. She paused her walk and thought of something before she remembered; snapped her fingers and resumed her walk very determined, she needed to talk to the guys about her sister.

When she finally reached the kitchen as usual she took her seat next to Ace, a cup of tea was already waiting for her.

"Good morning guys!" She beamed to the rest, not really taking the time or interest to personally look at each and every one of them.

"Morning Lex!" She heard back, and smiled.

Smiling at their responses, looking down at her cup; finally picking it up and bringing it towards her face, "I have to speak with-" She started, but was suddenly interrupted by another greeting.

"Good morning sis!" And her eyes widened, her face shooting towards the direction of the other female voice present in the room. And there was Laurie smiling in front of the stove flipping flapjacks and stacking them in a plate. She nervously looked around the room as if to check if the rest seemed to be noticing the same thing as her, but they looked normal; and what a stupid question, of course they'd had to notice, seeing as Slam looked like he was currently on his third plate of pancakes, Rev was actually helping the girl, Tech was reading the newspaper as usual, and next to her was Ace reading some claims from a holo-pad, Duck was missing of course… Since the mallard took his precious time whenever it came to morning routines. So everything seemed… Normal?

"I… Uh… Guys! Um…" For some reason she felt speechless about the whole thing, she stood and walked to her sister; nervously chuckling to her. "Um… This is… Laurie, my-"

"You're-sister! Yeah-we-know!" Interrupted the cheery roadrunner who was excitedly mixing pancake batter, "Lexi-why-didn't-you-tell-us-you-had-a-sister?! She's-so-cool! She-woke-up-before-us-and-started-to-cook-breakfas t-for-us! Isn't-that-sweet?! But-of-course-since-I-wake-up-super-early-to-take- my-morning-run-around-town-I-saw-her-and-well-deci ded-to-help-her!" Explained Rev to a dumbfounded Lexi, the rest nodding and delivering faint words of agreement.

She looked at Rev and delivered him a nervous grin, she then faced her sister and lightly frowned at her. "Um… Laurie, I thought I was going to talk to the guys about you staying here this morning remember?" She spoke in a low voice. "I mean how did you even know where the kitchen was? I was going to show you around this morning."

Laurie furrowed her eyebrows and looked back at Lexi and nodded understanding her words, "I know, I'm sorry… But last night you forgot to give me the code to my room… And I bumped into Ace when I was walking back to your room." She said, speaking in a normal tone, turning and pointing towards Ace.

Lexi was speechless for a brief moment; her jaw dropped, she looked back at Ace rather shocked then back at Laurie, "You… You bumped into Ace?" She finally managed to say.

Laurie nodded, turning the stove off and taking the fresh stack of pancakes towards the table. "Yeah! And I got hungry so he showed me where the kitchen was! In fact we stayed up a bit talking." she said as a matter-of-factly, placing the plate of the table.

"You did what?!" Said Lexi, not yelled but quite loud.

Laurie looked at her a bit sheepishly, but nodded to reassure her sister that her words were true.

"You were up all night with Ace? You… And him!" She said pointing to the male bunny who was now glancing at both females with a raised eyebrow in confusion. "As in you two were here, in this kitchen alone and talking?" She paused and looked around, noticing that the rest were now looking at them confused, and for a moment it seemed like the world froze. Why was this so hard for her to believe? She gave them a sheepish grin and a nervous chuckle before she walked towards Ace and lightly scratched her throat, "Um… Can I talk to you for a second? Like… Now?" She said in a low but less than private nervous tone.

Ace looked at her confused but nonetheless put the holo-pad down and nodded. He stood, and Lexi glanced back at the team nervously chuckling, "I just have to talk to him about something really quick… You know, leader and second in command boring stuff!" She explained while mentally slapping herself for such lame and sudden unnecessary explanation, Ace gave her an even more puzzled look but complied when she took his hand and literally pulled him towards the hallway and away from the kitchen.

"Woah Lex! calm down what's going on?" He asked her with worried eyes.

She glanced back at the kitchen then back at him; studying him from head to toe as if he had suddenly caught some deadly contagious disease, and he just tilted his head at her confused; his look giving her the hint that an explanation was in order, "Ace I think I made a mistake… I shouldn't have never let her in the tower in the first place!" She expressed with a bit of panic in her tone.

Ace furrowed his eyebrows his worry still evident in his eyes, he gently placed his hands on her shoulders, "Calm down Lex! Look I know you're probably well… Nervous about your sister, but you're doing the right thing here."

Lexi shook her head in denial, "No! I'm not, she's… She's doing this whole thing on purpose! To slowly make you guys like her until she finally takes over my friends and my life! Ace she has to leave!"

"Lex… I highly doubt she's planning to take over your life just because she made us breakfast." He softly chuckled, "I mean come on, you're just a bit scared that's all… She hasn't done anything wrong Lex, she's just trying to help out that's all."

Lexi stared at him in disbelief, "You see?! It's already happening! You're defending her! This is what she does Ace! She slowly makes her moves… Simple things like randomly talking to you guys… Like she did last night with you…" Her gaze falling to the ground.

Ace looked at her with pity, he could sense how nervous she was about having to reestablish her relationship with Laurie, he just wished he could fix her problems with the touch of a button; but that clearly wasn't possible so he just consoled her, "Lex… We just talked, she was hungry and I just showed her the kitchen that's all! Look nothing bad is going to happen…" He said reassuringly, gently placing his fingers under her chin and lifting her gaze to his.

Lexi drew herself closer to him gently resting her face in his chest and slowly wrapping her arms around his torso, Ace doing the same, "I just don't want to loose this, I don't want to loose what we have because she suddenly gets in the way!"

He broke the hug and looked at her straight into her eyes, "Lexi… I'm not going anywhere. Get that in your head bunny, she's your sister; and you're just scared ok? I get it! She's harmed you in the past, and even that makes me a bit uncomfortable to know. But she needs you Lex, you both need to heal and leave the past behind. She's trying, and I already talked to the guys… Except Sleeping Beauty of course…" He finished motioning to Duck's door.

Lexi giggled at his comment and rolled her eyes, "Of course… Ok maybe I am paranoid. I mean everything seemed fine last night, it's just that I wasn't expecting her to be so… Friendly with you guys." She admitted sheepishly.

"Which reminds me… I thought you were gonna sleep on it, what made you change your mind?" Inquired Ace in curiosity.

Lexi shrugged looking away from Ace with uncertainty, "I don't know… I just found myself calling her after I hung up with you. And then I found myself inviting her over, after all she didn't had a place to stay… So you know…"

Ace nodded, "Well, I don't have a problem with her staying, neither the guys… I mean she seems to fit well with us!" He commented.

Lexi's eyes widened at his words, "NO! She does _not_ fit well with us! What? You planning on making her part of the team now?" She asked getting back into her paranoid defensive self.

Ace frowned and again placed a supporting hand on her shoulder, "Lex you're doing it again… I was just joking, and no, I'm not planning on making her part of the team… She doesn't have powers or any type of special abilities that'll make her qualify for the job! It was just a joke, relax!"

"Oh… Of course it was…" She nervously chuckled.

"Now why don't you go and get some chow on that tummy of yours. You, Tech and I are going downtown to keep investigating on that case we worked on last Friday, so we gotta leave soon… And when we head back, maybe you can spend some time with your sister, you know catch up and stuff… Have a girly day?" Suggested Ace.

Lexi looked at him a bit unsure, "What about training? And all those damage claims we have to work on?" She asked the male bunny.

Ace chuckled at her question, "Lex, we both know those claims are for me to attend not you… And you've been training like crazy for the past two months, you can handle a break…"

"Ok… Fine, I'll spend time with her. But as soon as something goes wrong she's out of here!" She responded with determination.

"Lexi, please don't take this as an order… You should be happy that you're finally re-building your relationship with your sister. Remember what I said, things have changed, and you're both adults now."

She nodded acknowledging his words, "I guess you're right… I'll try my best." She smiled with her answer.

"That's the girl I know!" Responded Ace, giving her a warm smile.

And now they were both walking back towards the kitchen, when suddenly and finally Duck decided to emerge from his slumber, his expression mimicking one of a zombie.

"Ugh…" He grunted annoyed by the brightness in the room.

Lexi jumped at his sudden grunt, while Ace helped her maintain her balance, "Hey uh Duck? Come on you're scaring her!" Started Ace, a cocky smile on his lips as he knew the teasing was about to begin.

Duck annoyingly glared at the duo and again grunted some incoherence that not even Lexi's super hearing could functionally understand.

"And you might want to put a bit of beauty in you're 'Beauty Sleep'… Cuz I'm afraid that your methods are definitely not working." Teased Ace as he and a giggling Lexi continued their walk towards the kitchen.

"Despicable…" Mumbled the mallard as he followed the duo.

Once they arrived, Ace and Lexi took their usual seats on the table; a warm plate of blueberry pancakes was waiting for the female bunny's delight. Across from her was Laurie, who was looking at her with expectation. She sighed and finally faced her, "Laurie… I'm sorry I freaked out earlier. I-" She started but her words were interrupted by Duck who now stood with a raised eyebrow next to Laurie.

"Who's the new chick?!" Inquired Duck, his arms folded and his face held an expression that demanded an explanation.

Laurie turned to Duck and gave him a blank look, "Uh… I'm Laurie?" She answered shyly, but the mallard's expression still remained.

"My sister, Laurie." Added Lexi with certainty.

Duck kept eyeing the older female bunny suspiciously, "You have a sister?!" Scoffed Duck.

Lexi frowned at the mallard's expression, "Yes Duck I have a sister, she's my older sister and she'll be staying with us for a couple of days… Is that going to be a problem?" She now spoke in a rather loud tone, fair enough for the rest to understand that she was also speaking to them as well.

"Not at all Lex!" Supported Ace, who was now glaring at the mallard.

"No-problem-here-Lexi! Laurie-is-a-very-cool-girl-so-no-problem-at-all!" Responded an excited Rev.

"I don't mind at all." Added Tech in a serious tone, his eyes still glued to the newspaper.

"Nope! Laurie sndfiecncool!" Blurted Slam from under his stack of pancakes.

Lexi now eyed back to the mallard; a smirk across her face, she cleared her throat and stared at him waiting for his answer.

He huffed, "Fine, no I don't mind, but it would be nice if you guys left a notice or something before I wake up to a tower full of strangers!" He expressed in his naturally exaggerated self.

Laurie seemed a bit uncomfortable with Duck's comments as she quietly ate her breakfast, Ace and Lexi noticed this and now she was reaching for her hand, Laurie looked at Lexi a bit embarrassed.

"Nah, don't listen to him Laurie he's a bit of a blabber mouth… We don't mind having you here." Expressed Ace.

"Yeah… And today seems like a good day for him actually, we're kind of sadly used to him…" Added Lexi while rolling her eyes.

Laurie nodded and gratefully smiled at both bunnies before she resumed to her plate. Lexi doing the same as she finally took a bite, her eyes widening as her taste buds remembered such perfection to taste, and she couldn't help but to moan with delight.

"Laurie! Is this?" She started.

"Yup! Mom's recipe, you're favorite ever since you were a little girl. Thought you might like the surprise of eating mom's extra fluffy blueberry cakes!" She gladly admitted.

Lexi suddenly felt a bit guilty for how she treated Laurie earlier, of course she was frightened but she had to admit, the old Laurie would have never woken up so early and taken the time to make such thing just so she could remember her favorite childhood breakfast; same recipe included and all. She smiled at her and chuckled, "Well they are amazing! I haven't had these in forever so thank you so much!"

"You're welcome sis!" She responded with a kind smile.

When she was done the team was currently still sitting on the table, when suddenly the screen turned to a very familiar prism like colors, and it didn't take long until Zadavia finally made her appearance. The rest turning towards the screen to listen to their usual morning call from the Freelengian alien.

"Good Morning Loonatics, I expect you are all enjoying your morning routines. Luckily today we haven't had any emergency calls, the weekend seemed to go well… Minor emergencies but nothing drastic that required your help. So today you will just work on your training and current investigations from previous cases, if such haven't been worked on… I will also like for you to be more alert on surveillance watch, we don't want anything to be slipping right from our fingers, it's been too quiet lately and while that might be a good thing for the city it just makes me think that something big might be coming; of course I might be wrong, but we can't take any chances." Informed the Loonatic's Boss Lady.

"Morning Zadavia, yeah we're on it, Tech, Lex and I are heading downtown in a bit to keep working on that investigation… I'll instruct the rest in a bit to their duties." Ace said, mostly glaring at the mallard who was now stuffing his beak with pancakes.

"Very well then I'-" She paused, finally noticing the extra bunny in the room. "Oh, you're having guests over?" She inquired with curiosity.

Lexi stood and chuckled nervously, "Oh yeah… Zadavia, this is my older sister Laurie!" She said motioning to Laurie who was now waving at the screen.

"Oh nice to meet you Laurie!" Responded Zadavia with a welcoming smile.

"And if it's no problem with you, she's planning to stay with us for a couple of days."

Zadavia smiled kindly at Lexi, "That's not a problem Lexi, as long as she stays here during any mission. Just for safety measurements…"

Duck glared at Laurie and smirked, "Yup! Sorry girly girl, but you gotta leave the heavy duty for us. You wouldn't want to chip a nail or something…" Teased the mallard, and in returned he won death glares by the rest of the team.

"Duck?! I expect you to behave properly while there are guests in the house, specially if it's a lady!" Added a now irritated Zadavia.

The mallard gulped nervously at the Boss Lady and responded, "Yes um'…" in an almost painful whimper.

"Alright, Loonatics you may carry on with your day, Zadavia out!" She said before she suddenly disappeared from the screen.

"Alright guys, Tech and Lexi, you're coming with me; we have to go downtown and work on that investigation…" He then faced the other three Loonatics who were patiently awaiting for orders, "Slam buddy you can go train if you want. Rev and Duck! You're both gonna be on surveillance watch during the day, when we get back one of us will relieve you from your duties, is everything clear?" Everyone nodded except Duck who seemed less than happy about his task, and it didn't take long for the mallard to finally complain.

"Ugh! No! I have to be in a room for hours with Bird Brain here!" He said hysterically pointing towards Rev, who just huffed annoyed by the mallard's crude comment.

"Well-actually-I'm-the-one-who-should-be-complaini ng-about-me-being-stuck-with-you Duck-because-if-you-haven't-noticed-you're-also-a- bird-who-has-a-brain! At-least-that's-what-I-think-you-have…" Responded an annoyed Rev.

"You guys need to stop all this bickering and start working things out rather you like it or not! You two are starting to get on my nerves…" Expressed an irritated Tech as he stood and was now starting to walk towards the door, he paused and turned towards the leader and second in command, "I guess I'll meet you guys in the hangar."

"Yeah we'll be there in a bit!" Responded Ace as he stood from his seat and now faced the mallard and avian. "Look guys, you need to work things out… I'm sorry but we're a team and teamwork is the key to perfection in our case. So remember to report anything weird or out of the ordinary… You know the drill!" Informed Ace with authority clearly present in his tone.

Lexi stood as well and walked towards Laurie, "Hey, I gotta head out… But I'll probably be back before lunch time so maybe you and I can go out and grab a bite, you know, have some sister time and actually catch up!" Suggested Lexi with expectation.

Laurie smiled warmly at Lexi, "I'd love that Lex!" She responded excitedly.

"Cool! In the meantime you can watch some TV and I don't know… Get to know the tower better!"

The older sister chuckled at the younger sister's suggestions, "I'll be fine Lex." she responded with reassurance.

"Alright, but don't hesitate to call me if you need anything!"

"I won't!"

And now Ace and Lexi were walking out of the kitchen and into the hangar, they were about to reach the door when Ace placed a hand on Lexi's shoulder, the gesture catching the female bunny off guard as she turned to him with a questioning look. Ace simply smiled at her, "You did good Lex…" he complimented in a soft warm voice.

She smiled at him and lightly blushed, "I guess you were right Ace… Maybe Laurie has changed, maybe things are finally changing for good!"

Ace gave her a warm smile, "That's good to hear bunny!" He finished his sentence while he teasingly ruffled her hair.

"Hey! You just won't give up will you?" She said as a chuckle escaped her lips.

They both entered the hangar and were greeted by Tech who was as usual checking the fuel levels on the jet they were planning to use for transportation.

"Everything seems fine Chief! This beauty is ready for take off!" Said the genius, gently patting his beloved creation.

"Just the way I like it!" Commented Ace in his usual confident self; making his way towards the pilot seat, the rest following and taking their designated seats.

And once seated, the leader finally turned on the engine, the roars of the jet taking over the entire hangar. He opened the huge door that lead to the city's cold blue skies.

He smirked at the weather, "Today seems like a promising day!" He gladly admitted before they took off.

/

While the rest were working on their duty orders, Laurie just finished cleaning the kitchen; bored she ventured through hallways hoping she wouldn't get lost, after all Lexi wanted her to get to know her way through the tower. She heard voices coming from two huge steel doors, and to her surprise the security was down; meaning no code was needed to enter the room. She felt somewhat curious to venture through them and explore the area within it, but her thoughts faded soon when she heard the voices that came from inside.

Inside the monitor room was a roadrunner with a clipboard in hand, he was currently walking or rather zooming from computer screen to screen and carefully taking notes from everything being displayed.

"Kid-threw-a-snowball-at-little-sister-in-sector-9 , little-girl-cried-and-ran-to-her-house…" He said in a low tone as he wrote reports after reports from his watch.

The mallard just sat in a chair, his arm resting on the desk while it supported his head, he stared back at Rev with a rather boring expression, and it didn't take him long before a yawn escaped his beak, which of course he made sure to be as loud and obnoxious as he possibly could. "Do you have to write _everything_ that pops in that screen?" He asked irritated.

"Well-unlike-you-Duck-I'm-keeping-my-eyes-peeled-f or-any-funny-business-nothing-is-getting-past-me! And-I'm-actually-following-orders-which-I-don't-th ink-there's-anything-wrong-with-that!" Responded the roadrunner, his eyes still glued to the screens.

Duck scoffed, "Yes, Anything out of the ordinary! I don't think we'll do much with a report of a little boy who threw a snowball to his little sister! What are we gonna do with that? Go to the boy and put him on time out while a real crook tries to take over the city?"

"Well-I'm-not-taking-any-chances!" Huffed Rev.

Duck rolled his eyes and grunted, "This is boring! Why couldn't we just go with Ace, and the other two?"

Rev gave Duck an unimpressed look while he kept scribbling down words on his clipboard, "Well-that's-simple, because-Ace-is-leader, Lexi-is-second-in-command-and-Tech-well… I'm-guessing-he's-just-analyzing-the-whole-thing, you-know… Examining-any-evidence-and-stuff-like-that!"

"Please! We all know Ace tags Lexi along because of obvious reasons… And Tech well… Yeah I guess it makes sense what you just said, but still! That could've been me tagging along instead of her!" Expressed Duck.

Laurie was pressing her head to the door to get clearer words on what the mallard was saying, but she accidentally pressed her hand on the pad next to the door, and before she knew it the doors started to part and gravity did the rest as she lost balance and her body met with the cold metal floor and a yelp escaped her lips. The sound startled the mallard and the roadrunner as they turned to look at the newcomer's direction.

Rev was the first to react as he immediately zoomed towards Laurie and helped her back to her feet, "Oh-my-Laurie-are-you-ok?! What-happened?" Asked a worried Rev.

Laurie couldn't help but blush at her clumsiness, "I- I'm sorry guys, I was just bored and walking around when I saw this room and I tripped when entering…" She explained lamely.

Duck "quacked" himself to Laurie's spot and just folded his arms, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were spying…" Assumed the mallard, giving her a suspicious look.

Laurie frowned at Duck's words, but decided to nervously play it off, "What?! No… Spying me?! I'm just well- Uh…" She paused a bit lost of words from her sudden intrusion. But then remembered hearing the mallard talking about her sister, the frown suddenly returning to her face as she faced him, "Ok maybe I did over heard something… Which reminds me, what were you talking about my sister?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

Duck huffed a bit, his arms still folded, "Listen sister! I just said that it's unfair that Lexi's always tagging along with Ace on the big shots… At least that's been the case lately…" He said, a hint of jealousy in his tone.

Laurie just stared at him blankly, "Uh… Isn't she second in command or something?" She inquired with determination, very well knowing the answer.

"See! That's-what-I-keep-telling-Duck! Lexi-is-second-in-command-and-there's-nothing-wron g-with-Ace-including-her-in-all-of-his-smaller-mis sions! Face-it-Duck-you're-just-jealous-of-Lexi's-rank-in -the-team-even-though-you're-more-jealous-of-Ace's -rank… But-still-Duck-you-have-to-get-over-it!" Explained Rev.

"This isn't about Lexi's rank! This is about the fact that Lexi is obviously Ace's favorite, I mean I honestly don't care what they do behind doors, or without the uniform… But he shouldn't just favorite her in the team just because he has a huge obvious fat crush on her!" He blurted.

The roadrunner's eyes widened at the mallard's words, sure they knew about Ace's not so secret-secret, but as far as he knew they weren't planning on vomiting the words to the world anytime soon, specially not to his crush's sister! Rev strongly placed a hand on his forehead and shook his head in shame, Duck was so naive sometimes; he knew he was cruel; but most of the time he just speaks his thoughts aloud, and usually that doesn't end well with anyone.

Laurie's eyes also widened at the piece of information, a bit speechless by the mallard's words, "He does?" She finally asked amused.

"Oh-Duck-you've-done-it-now!" Rev paused his sentence and now faced Laurie, "Yes-it's-true-but-you-can't-tell-her-ok? He-has-plans-to-tell-her, and-I-assume-he-doesn't-want-his-surprise-to-be-sp oiled!" He finished his sentence while delivering the mallard a crude glare.

Laurie suddenly felt herself excited, and she was suddenly jumping on her spot, "OMG I can't believe it!" She expressed in disbelief and a huge grin across her face.

"Pffft, it's not my fault that he's making himself less than obvious…" The mallard expressed as he rolled his eyes.

"But-you-still-need-to-be-careful-with-what-you-sa y!"

"Look guys, I won't tell her ok? But… I will try and get info out of her. I mean I kinda asked her last night and she pulled the we're just really 'close friends' card on me, even though I'm not buying it. I saw the pictures of her and Ace on the park, you know… The day Jake dumped her?"

Rev's eyes widened, "Oh-no-Laurie-you've-got-it-wrong-see-Lexi-dumped- Jake, so-technically-Jake-is-the-dumpee-or-is-it-the-oth er-way-around? Is-Lexi-the-dumpee-no-no-no-I'm-pretty-sure-if-Lex i-dumped-him-that-would-make-him-the-dumpee-and-he r-the-dumper! Yeah! That's-right!"

"Ugh! Ok we get it, whatsername dumped my idol like a bag of trash, can we please move along to another subject?!" Duck asked in annoyance.

Laurie looked at Rev apprehensively, "Oh I didn't know it was the other way around…" She said in thought, but decided to shrug it off even though the curiosity in her never died.

"Yeah-she-doesn't-like-to-talk-about-it-that-much, apparently-it-hit-her-hard, not-that-she-cries-about-him-or-anything-like-that -but-she-just-gets-a-bit-upset." Rev commented while he zoomed back to the monitors to proceed with his surveillance watch, and once again he started taking notes of absolutely everything that appeared on the monitors.

"Oh… " Was all that escaped Laurie's lips. She wasn't that close with Lexi, but she hoped to change that and hopefully one day gain her full trust. She knew that at this right moment it was going to be hard to get her baby sister to open up to her, so the closest intel she can get she'll try and cherish it; even though it's not coming from her… And it finally hit her, the best way of making up for all those years, all that rocky past was to help her find love and happiness! Something she took away from her many times, but not this time and Laurie felt very secure about that, she didn't want to hurt Lexi anymore; in fact she'll help her with Ace if she needed to. She smiled to herself and slowly exited the room, having a mental plan while she made her way back to her room.

"Hey where are you going?" Asked Duck to the now long gone female bunny. He defeatedly rolled his eyes and once again sat back on his chair while he watched Rev perform both their tasks.

/

Tech, Ace and Lexi were currently exiting a big building that was currently crowded with busy policemen, entering and exiting the building like working ants; the sign clearly reading that it was the "Acmetropolis Police Department".

"Well, at least now I'll get to examine this, hopefully we'll get some answers soon…" Tech spoke while he held what looked like some clear gel that was contained in a test cup.

"Do you at least have a clue of where that came from?" Ace inquired in thought as he carefully eyed the cup in Tech's hand.

"Egh! I don't think I wanna know…" Added Lexi, her face reflecting disgust.

Tech chuckled at Lexi's expression, "Relax Lex… And no Ace, I honestly don't have a clue of where this might've come from, but I don't think it's from here… I think it's alien…" He added in thought, "But that's so strange though, we've been so attentive with who and what is entering this planet lately, and I don't recall getting any signal or foreign ships landing on the City Planet lately."

"Well whatever it is we have to get to the bottom of it, for now we know it destroys certain metals… Whoever is using this stuff is obviously using it to break into certain places, and to be honest the places kind of don't make any sense! I mean why would you want to use this and throw it at a random security bar at your random butcher shop and not take anything? Not even the safe or money?" Asked a confused Lexi.

"Because whatever it is that's looking for something, doesn't know where to look…" Concluded Ace, and now they were finally nearing the ship. Tech unconsciously entering first, Ace paused his pace and let Lexi enter before him while he delivered her a warm smile, which she gladly returned.

Once buckled up and ready for takeoff, Ace glanced back at his two teammates, "Alright guys… Tech once we get back you go and test the heck out of that goo thing, Lexi you're free for the rest of the evening, and I'll go relieve the guys on their watch."

Tech nodded, even if there wasn't an actual order for him to actually work and experiment on their current evidence; he would've still done the same, so it's no surprise that he didn't actually care that Lexi's getting relieved from her duties for the rest of the day. It was in his nature to just work and tinker on things rather than just have some time off.

Lexi still had that nervous unsure look on her face, and it was more than evident that she was still a bit uncomfortable about hanging out with her sister. She took a deep breath when the ship finally reached the Loonatics tower's hangar, slowly unbuckling herself from her seat. Once the ship finally made it's stop she didn't hesitate on being the first to exit the ship, it was finally hitting her, she had to spend the day with her sister. She quickly walked through the hallways and made her way into the common room where Laurie was sitting and flipping channels, she walked up to her and sat next to her while smiling.

"You're back already?" Asked Laurie in a playful tone.

Lexi chuckled a bit at her words, she was about to say something but Ace beat her to it as he also made his way towards the couch, "Of course we are, I was the one piloting the ship wasn't I?" He asked in a joking manner.

Both girls chuckled at his words, "Oh come on, stop being such a show off!" Added Lexi in a playful way.

"Did you just called me a show off? Oh no Lex…" He hurriedly walked to the female bunny and added a playful hand on her forehead, "Are you sick or something? Last time I checked Duck was the one who calls everyone a show off."

Laurie just watched in silence as the two teammates interacted with each other, she noticed Lexi's smile every time Ace was present , how her eyes sparkled when his hand made soft contact with her, how he just looked at her warmly with care and mostly interest. There was no denying it, he for sure was in love with her; and even if she denied it, it was just something very difficult believe. A soft smile curled up in Laurie's mouth, softening eyes falling upon the pair, she had never seen her sister like this before… In love? No, maybe not quite that but beyond that was happiness; something that she took away from her and wasn't used to seeing, maybe not literally but she used to play with her sister's emotions a lot, as if it was her favorite sport or hobby. She frowned, remembering the past was always something cruel, it disgusted her how low and crude she used to be for her own benefit, so selfish and self centered. She once again looked at the couple, Ace was now teasing Lexi about something; of course nothing cruel like her past teasing otherwise Lexi wouldn't be smiling like he was complimenting her instead; she lightly punched his arm and he just chuckled in return.

"Alright! Alright, fine I was just teasing you know? But really you're ears look better when they're down." A soft blush forming on the male bunny's cheeks, and it was hard to tell but Lexi's cheek were burning inferno as well.

Laurie just sighed in a dazzlingly way, catching the other two's attention.

"Oh uh… Right! I have to relieve the guys from their watch!" Ace nervously chuckled, "I'll leave you two girls alone now…" He finished, walking away from the bunny sisters. Lexi just stared at him carefully until he finally exited the room.

Laurie scratched her throat and Lexi jumped at the sound, causing her to turn around and face her sister, "Laurie! You scared me!" Expressed Lexi with her eyes widened and a hand clutching her chest.

Laurie just giggled at her comment, and rolled her eyes; she decided not pick on the subject, at least not yet. "Anyway… Are we all set for lunch?"

Lexi looked back at Laurie, "I have to change before we leave." She gestured towards her uniform.

Laurie nodded and sat back on the couch, "Alright, I'll wait for you!" She gladly informed her.

"Ok, I'll be right back!" Said a smiling Lexi as she entered her room. Once inside she changed into a more casual but warm outfit, dark washed jeans, a loose warm light purple knitted sweater, a fuchsia scarf and winter brown combat boots. She let her ears down; unconsciously blushing a bit, when she seemed pleased with her look she walked out of her room and into the coat rack where she grabbed her coat, gloves and a winter beanie that matched her scarf.

All wrapped up she walked to her sister who was already coated awaiting for her. "Alright let's go!" Declared Lexi, making Laurie stand and follow her sister through a set of hallways, confused as to why didn't they just took the elevator.

"Uh… Where are we going?" Inquired a confused Laurie.

Lexi finally reached her destination, smiling while she punched in a code on the keypad; the door finally opening revealing the hangar. "We're not walking, we're riding today!" Informed Lexi as she started to walk towards her beloved black and pink hover bike, Laurie following and looking around in awe at the collection of vehicles the team had hidden in this huge and strange tower. She just walked slowly her eyes filled with amazement as she stared at each and every single ship, bike, jet, plane and even jet packs of all sorts. They lived in the future where everything's possible, and true she had knowledge of the team's extent vehicle collection; but seeing it all in person was definitely something else, this was just their transportation sources; she didn't even want to imagine how their weapons and training rooms looked like. Not to mention that deep inside she was dying to see the team in action.

As she reached her younger sister's place, Lexi handed her a spare black and pink helmet; she took it and excitedly started to mimic her sister's actions by placing it securely around her head, when done Lexi slid a leg around her bike and signaled Laurie to do the same behind her; which she did. The hood of her hover bike closed; Lexi was now starting the engine and touching a couple of buttons on a panel in front of her, when satisfied she started to slowly elevate the bike. Behind her helmet Laurie couldn't help but to surprisingly smile at her, never in a million years would she imagined innocent Lexi being so fearless and doing things like riding a bike and saving the world. She was so different than the Lexi she grew with, the poor younger sister who suffered from her bullying and constant mistreat, causing her to be so insecure about herself and life decisions; to her she was currently a stranger, but she had to admit that she loved this new Lexi, she felt somewhat proud of her improvements; so confident and dauntless.

And she couldn't help but think, _"I have the coolest little sister!"_ as they flew towards the city skies.

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**Thanks for reading and please review! **

**Also, I finally re-designed Laurie's design, I posted a link to my profile to my pic in DA so please check it out for reference! :)**


	4. Alexa

**A/N: I am beyond sorry for taking soooo long to actually post this, I'm lamely admitting that I had this written for weeks now, it's actually been sitting in my desktop for like 2 weeks no lie! But I just haven't been home lately, and work has been getting busy since it's summer and all... Anyways, I wanted to remind you guys that any type of updates regarding myself, including explanations on why I'm taking so long on this or other projects of mines... To please check my DA page, I post journals all the time about what's going up with my life (There's a link on my profile). I also have to admit I've been working on art also, so that might also explain why I'm taking so long to write, but like I've mentioned I want to divide myself with this story... I don't want to dedicate myself 100% to it like I did last time, after all my main talent is art and my vein itches from time to time and I can't help it if art is what I want to do. Not saying that I'll forget about this story because I won't, but I went in a little art hiatus while writing the prequel, I don't want that to happen again, I want to be able and work on both. Hope you guys understand!**

**And I certainly hope this chapter answers a lot of your questions about Laurie! So please enjoy, if you read please review! :)**

* * *

Brown combat boots touching the snow covered asphalt, Lexi removed her helmet and placed it neatly on her seat; Laurie doing the same and now both just adjusted their scarfs and coats before beginning their walk towards a large tall busy building.

"The mall?" Inquired Laurie with curiosity; quirking an eyebrow at her younger sister.

Lexi let out a soft chuckle before responding, "Yes, this isn't just any mall you know… It's The Mall of Acmetropolis! It got build a year or two after the meteor hit, I think you've already went back home by then. But it has at least 7 levels, and one of them is literally all restaurants."

Laurie's eyes widened at the size and how far they currently appeared from their destination, "It's huge that's for sure! Why park so far away though, it's cold?" She asked while rubbing her arms, making a sad attempt at warming herself.

Lexi looked at her with understanding eyes, "Sorry… It just drags less attention." She pulled up the collar of her coat even higher, almost hiding half of her face. This caused Laurie to give the younger female bunny an even more puzzled look, but decided not to ask, she'd suspect it had something to do with who she is and trying to have a normal life outside of her uniform so she just shrugged every doubt from her.

They finally reached the entrance and once inside Laurie took a moment to remove her gloves, hat and loosened her scarf. Lexi on the other hand only removed her gloves and placed them neatly inside her bag, her scarf remained tied around her neck, her coat still closed up to the fullest and the beanie still covered her head. She started walking towards the elevator which was thankfully empty and both females stepped inside. When the doors closed Lexi pressed the number 7 on the panel.

"Uh… Aren't you gonna remove you're hat and scarf? I think it's warm enough in here." Asked Laurie carefully, not wanting to trigger something on the now slightly nervous Lexi; who just turned to Laurie and literally faked a shiver.

"No, still feeling a bit chilly." Was all she answered.

Laurie looked at her unconvinced but again decided to not question her "Ok…? If you say so."

The doors opened and out they stepped to a level that looked more like a street filled with pubs and restaurants of all kind. From you're typical ice cream shop to your 5 star French Cuisine. Laurie just stared in awe at the extent options, she looked around a bit dizzy from all the different food aromas as she walked by a couple of restaurants. "So… What are we having?" She asked excitedly.

"Well… I really like this one place that has everything, but if you want to try something in specific that's fine." Responded Lexi, glancing at her sister as she awaited for her response.

"Oh ok, no that's fine we'll go to where you originally wanted to go! I don't really know what I'm craving at the moment, too many options to decide!" She chuckled.

Lexi nodded and walked into a regular grill style restaurant called, "Lucky Bite Cafe & Grill." The hostess kindly greeted them, "Hello, Um… Table for two." Informed Lexi.

The Hostess kindly smiled and looked at the digital floor/table planner she had placed on her podium, she looked back at Lexi, "Sure! You're name? It's gonna be like a 5 minute waiting…" She responded.

Lexi nodded and quickly responded, "Alexa!" To which the hostess nodded kindly and wrote down the name on the list.

"Alright Alexa, I'll let you know as soon as you're table is ready!" She replied with a friendly smile.

Laurie on the other hand gave her younger sister a very awkward and demanding look. Lexi noticed this and quickly walked outside of the restaurant as if that would save her from delivering her sister any type of explanation, of course that was silly because she knew exactly what was coming once she heard Laurie's footsteps nearing her spot. "Ok… So you're Alexa when you're not in uniform?" She asked in a low tone, hoping that Lexi would clear any doubting question she had in her.

"Shhh…" Hushed Lexi, nervously looking around then back at her sister, "Yes, I've been Alexa for two months now… I'll explain in a bit." She said in an almost whispered tone, turning around and as in queue the hostess walked to the entrance and called.

"Alexa party of two, you're table is ready!"

Both female bunnies followed the hostess inside who was now carrying two menus around her wrapped arms, and once she reached the booth she gently placed them on their respective places. They both scooted to their seats, the hostess informed them that a waiter will be with them shortly before she left back to her place behind the podium.

Lexi quickly grabbed the menu and started eyeing it like a newly discovered fascinating object, Laurie tried doing the same, but her mind prevented her of doing so, so instead she just cleared her throat to get Lexi's attention. Lexi broke contact with her menu and locked eyes with her sister and sighed defeatedly, "I guess you want an explanation…" She started, Laurie simply nodded in response and motioned her to continue; which she was getting herself ready to do so but the waiter, a young tall guy; walked up to them and asked for their drink order.

"Um… I would like some raspberry iced tea please." Ordered Lexi.

"Cherry soda is fine for me…" Replied Laurie.

The waiter kindly nodded and went to arrange their drinks.

"Ok…? You were saying…" Said Laurie, looking back at Lexi.

"Right… Well when me and Jake broke up, I had the paparazzi on me like hawks! I couldn't visit a place without them selling a false story about me; it was horrible! So… since it's winter I've been covering myself more lately, making myself a bit less recognizable and well… I'm Alexa whenever I'm not in uniform. Trust me it has saved my butt a lot lately, I even had Tech make me some false ID's and all just in case," She paused and took a soft but deep breath, "this breakup… I mean our relationship was ok and all but it ruined me! I thought I had left all the fame life behind as soon we broke up, I honestly thought it was all him that brought the extreme fame, not even realizing how much it really grew on me; but apparently not. Our breakup was the hottest topic in the city for weeks! And trust me, while fame might seem fun it's not when you're trying to get over someone. The constant reminder of him, his name is on the news, the magazines, his face is plastered everywhere I look and me? I'm hated! I'm the bad one, as if I was the villain in this situation! When really it was all misunderstood…" She finished her explanation by looking down at her fidgeting hands that rested on the table.

Laurie simply looked at Lexi with pity, no wonder she didn't like to talk about the breakup. The false media that followed the poor girl around, it might've seemed like a dream come true to others but to her it was simply a nightmare. The waiter came back with a tray that held their drinks, placing them on their respective places; he asked if they were ready to place their orders. Lexi nodded, not really looking at him and responded, "Veggie pasta Al Dente."

Laurie ordered the same plate since she didn't really took the time to carefully eye the menu and make a more thoughtful selection, but she really didn't bother; and it really didn't matter what her choice of plate was now. Lexi was opening up to her and that was of more importance at the moment.

When the waiter left Lexi looked back at Laurie, "And to make matters worst, the public didn't really want my help at first…"

Laurie looked at her surprised, she couldn't even believe her sister's words, "What?"

Lexi sadly nodded, "Yeah… We had this villain taking over the east side of the city. Ace split us up, and I was teamed with Duck; our task was to clear the area since there was falling debris everywhere and it wasn't safe. I saw this one lady and was trying to make her follow me out of the damaged site, but she refused to follow! She started yelling at me, that how could I possibly do what I did to Jake? And she refused to move, at least not with me… I had to call Duck and literally make him teleport her out to safety. After that I pretty much had the same feedback from a couple of people, what shocked me was how ignorant they all sounded to me; risking their safety to just lash at me about some stupid rumor… Here I am trying to do my job and people won't let me! Apparently bashing me is way more important than safety… It makes me sick what the priorities of this city are…" She finished taking her gaze away from her sister and into her drink.

Laurie didn't really know what to respond, she kept giving her pity looks; she did feel sorry for what she was going through, and suddenly it seemed like her words from the previous night collapsed as if they never really meant anything, even though to her it did, _'You are one of the most respected girls in this city.'_

"I'm sorry, seems like it's been tough for you huh?" Was all Laurie really pushed out of her to support the conversation.

"It's ok, things have gotten better though… With me trying to keep it on the down-low, things have calmed down a bit; and my title as second in command has been rising more so it's been more professional out in the field, and thankfully people are taking me more seriously and slowly forgetting about what happened, even though now and then I do get the occasional question from the reporters…"

"Like what?" Inquired Laurie with curiosity.

"Oh the typical… Do I still talk to Jake, how is my new single life, why did I cheated on him and how is my supposed new relationship with Ace?" She finished and took a sip of her drink.

Laurie looked up to Lexi, carefully thinking about her next words, "Well… What do you usually respond?"

Lexi chuckled a bit, the first cheerful sign since the subject was brought. "No comment!"

Laurie let out a chuckle herself, since she was obviously trying to get information out of her. "Ok! But what would you respond to me?" She asked carefully.

Lexi's smile faded and now she just bit her lower lip in thought, " Well… Jake and I e-mail each other occasionally, he's still in Europe filming his movie; that's all I really know from him, Um… Let's see, my single life is great! I'm just enjoying what I do and having fun with my friends. Fun fact! I didn't! Repeat, did NOT cheat on Jake; EVER! And my supposed new relationship with Ace? Which is… Let's see… Nonexistent! We're just best friends, and I guess that wasn't accepted to the media; apparently hugging your best friend in public is as bad as literally sleeping with him. But on the bright side, our friendship has never been better! If anything we've gotten stronger and our bond is… I don't even know how to explain it; all I know is that I'm never gonna loose him again." She finished, and Laurie noticed something peculiar about Lexi, when she finished her sentence she noticed a spark in her eyes; it wasn't something obvious but her look changed to a more soft dazed one.

"Oh? Did you loose him once?" She asked, bringing herself back to the subject.

Lexi looked at Laurie a bit taken aback by the unexpected question, her gaze falling to the table. "Our friendship was on the rocks while me and Jake were dating. Lots of misunderstandings between us, he wasn't really too excited about me dating or anyone on the team for that matter… Things got awkward between us, and he just stopped talking to me; and the saddest part is that I let it happened."

"Sounds to me like he got a bit jealous…" Added Laurie before taking a sip of her drink.

Lexi gave Laurie a confusing look, "Jealous? Why would he get jealous? I mean yeah… I was spending more time with Jake because Duh! He was my boyfriend, and yeah I guess me and Ace kind of… Drifted apart."

Laurie smiled and shook her head, Lexi can be so naive sometimes… "Ok…" She said with a bit of sarcasm.

"What?" Asked Lexi not fully understanding Laurie's point.

"Nothing, I just think that…" She paused because she didn't want to reveal anything that she wasn't suppose to, after all she promised Rev that she wouldn't say anything about Ace's secret. And yet, even though he might consider his feelings a secret, to her it seemed more than obvious of what he felt, heck it was obvious to everyone minus Lexi. And for some reason she found that odd, but nonetheless; facts were facts regardless if they were a secret or not. "Well… have you ever considered that Ace might have a crush on you?" She asked, hoping that she wouldn't regret the assumption.

Lexi just gave Laurie a blank stare, a sudden chuckle escaped her lips; as if Laurie's words were a badly told yet funny joke. "What?! Are you kidding me?" She paused and tried containing her laughter but it was useless for some strange reason this was all too funny for the loonatic's second in command, something that didn't really pleased the older sister. If anything it confused her, she was expecting her to be hesitant to the option, maybe deny it, blush, but not take it as a joke like she currently is.

Laurie raised an eyebrow, her stare pretty much serious and confused. "Um… I didn't meant for it to sound funny though."

Lexi's laughter subsided as she registered the seriousness in Laurie's tone, "Oh…" She said, a bit confused herself. "I'm sorry, it's just that; I don't know why would Ace have a crush on me? He's basically my boss!" She expressed sheepishly.

Laurie's eyes softened at her words, "Well _Alexa_, he might be your boss; but he clearly likes you. And you two don't seem to mind having a very close friendship even though you're co-workers and he's your superior."

Lexi was silent for a couple of seconds, "But why… Why would you think that he likes me?" She Inquired, her eyes filled with curiosity.

Laurie smiled; gladly to explain, "The way he looks at you, he obviously flirts with you; and he seems to talk to you differently than the others… And don't get me wrong, but you seem to do the same." She admitted.

Lexi's eyes widened and her cheeks now burned with a bit of shyness, "Oh…" She chuckled softly to herself, "I mean that's the way we've always been with each other, sweet, respectful and caring…" She explained lamely.

"Really? Then now it sounds like_ you're_ the one with the crush." Teased Laurie, causing Lexi's cheeks to burn even more; leaving her speechless, and in good timing because the waiter brought in their plates, causing them to come back to reality.

They ate in silence, while the younger sister mostly thought about Laurie's words; of course she knew what she meant and what she was trying to get out of her and she knew very well the answer; she just wasn't ready to reveal it. When finished with their plates the waiter offered them some dessert which Lexi or rather Alexa gladly accepted to share with her sister.

"So… Laurie, enough talking about me. What about you? What really happened to you after college; I know we didn't really talk much by then, so everything I know is through mom, but knowing you I know there must be more to it." Started the younger bunny, attempting to change the subject.

"We're still not done talking about our previous subject you know… But I'll get you later!" She said winking to her younger sister, "What happened to me after college? Hmmm… Well I went home for a month because I just couldn't handle college, and after that I went to Acme Cali for a gig that some friends offered me."

"Doing what?" Inquired Lexi, quirking an eyebrow.

"Modeling for an indie clothing line, it was fun while it lasted… Then I met this guy; Matthew, gorgeous typical Cali guy… Surfer, skater, he played guitar; but I played with him so naturally that didn't work out. Moved in with some friends, started working at this bar as a waitress and that didn't work out either; too many bitchy drama queens around… And you know I've been all over the place, I've been traveling a lot and mostly waitressing; been crashing at mom's every now and then but we never really got along, not lately."

"Why not?"

"Well… She and Jason were pushing me to go back to college or get a better job, and you know I don't do too good when pushed to do something, so we always end up arguing and she usually ends up kicking me out; which equals with me ending up homeless, begging at a friend's doorstep for refuge. But that also stopped working, all of my old high school friends are married with kids or too busy with work and bills; they don't want someone like me in the middle of their living room crashing while I recover from my night shifts at the local bar, and of course I don't have enough cash to pay them for rent… That's why I decided to come back to the big city." Her tone had a hint or bitterness in it.

And it seems like the papers just switch, because now it was Lexi who was looking at her sister with pity and sorrow, it hasn't been easy on Laurie and she knows it; regardless of how she used to be or still is, because of her attitude she has lost a lot of friends, not to mention other's respect as a person. Even though who she was was not acceptable back in school; there's usually a limit and people tend to change as they get older, leave bad habits behind; that's what Lexi thought when she joined college with her older sister, that she would suddenly change for the sake of her success, but no; it seemed as changing was something really hard for her to do, it was as if it was part of who she was; and it wasn't pretty; it made her a really undesirable person on the inside. People avoided working with her in college, Lexi's life was hell because she lived with her; it seemed as if she didn't had her own time, her escape. Thankfully and tragically that all changed when the meteor hit.

"Lo… Why don't you go back to college?" Lexi asked, but it wasn't in a pushy way like the older sister stated that she hated, it was in a curious way. Laurie furrowed her eyebrows in thought, it's been a while since she's heard someone called her "Lo" and she couldn't deny that it sounded heavenly to her ears, so a soft smirk curled up on her lips.

"I don't like school… I mean I loved High School, but I lost my friends after that; since they all went to different schools. I didn't even get to the school I wanted to so I had to forcefully go to community college; which I dropped out of a year later, did nothing but work at the local gas station until you graduated college and got into Acmetropolis University, mom and Jason literally forced me to enroll just so I could leave the house and maybe do something with myself, so I agreed because they gave Dancing Arts major; but that didn't work out either, I was never in time for class; didn't even make it to the cheerleading tryouts… Then things with you were complicated… I wasn't happy there." Her gaze dropping to her drink.

Lexi also looked away frowning a bit at the memory, a bitter taste took over her mouth as she analyzed Laurie's words and she realized how selfish they actually sounded.

"You weren't happy?" She asked with clear sarcasm.

Laurie looked at Lexi a bit taken aback by her change in tone, she tilted her head and furrowed her eyebrows in question at her younger sister.

"I wanted more than anything to get along with you Laurie… Do you know what it's like to go through high school and be bullied by your own sister? It was so degrading, sad and I just felt trapped! You and your friends making my life miserable, and for what? What did you or your friends wanted to get out of that?" She locked eyes with her, her frown tattooed on her face.

"Lexi I…" Laurie started in a low shameful voice.

"I… I hated you…" Interrupted Lexi, and at the sound of her words Laurie's features dropped as if she just suddenly got shot by a gun; whilst giving her a hurt look. Was it that bad that she had mistreated her sister for her to get to the point of hate? She knew Lexi as a sweet and friendly girl, sure she hadn't treated her fairly in the past; but she couldn't believe that such sweet girl could ever feel something so putrid as hate, it just shocked her and it was all because of her own selfish ways.

Lexi looked away in shame, even she couldn't comprehend how suddenly she felt so much hatred in her, this wasn't the plan. She was suppose to make things right with Laurie, and even though she felt more than anything to express her feelings, she felt like she suddenly took 3 steps back from the sudden progress she thought she'd made. And now they just sat in an awkward silence, not really attempting to look at each other, but their thoughts were interrupted by a sudden thud on the table as the waiter placed a plate of strawberry cheesecake in between the bunny girls along with two spoons for each to use.

Lexi attempted to give the waiter a thankful smile while Laurie just picked up her spoon and literally fidgeted with it, not really having it in her to personally thank or even talk at the moment.

"Alright, do you girls need anything else? Another refill?" Asked the waiter in glee.

"No, we're fine thank you." Responded Lexi rather dully, he nodded and left them enjoy or try to enjoy what was left of their meal.

Lexi took the first bite of the cake, Laurie taking little bites out of courtesy; but not really in the mood or with the appetite to do so. She suddenly let her spoon fall causing the plate to clink; catching Lexi's attention and raising an eyebrow at the older sister.

"Look I'm sorry!" Was all she managed to say before her eyes started to glimmer with fresh tears. Lexi's frown disappeared and her pitiful shamed one returned; maybe she was a bit hard on her…

"So am I… I always admired you Laurie, ever since I could remember I always looked up to you, I wanted to be as pretty as you, dance the way you did, have friends like the ones you had… But it's like who you were drained from you, and you became someone else… What happened?" She asked, putting her spoon down.

"Dad left…" She responded in a low tone. Lexi's gaze fell to her plate again.

"I know it was hard Laurie, but I think dad leaving was kind of good for us." She tried by making the dull situation a positive one, but failed as finally one of Laurie's tears gave fall, which she quickly wiped away; they were in a public place and the least thing she wanted was to call for attention.

"We never had a normal family… He was always gone on trips, and whenever he was home it's like his work was everything he breathed. He wasn't always like that, but I guess the ambition of finally having his own company got to him. And he chose work and a life outside his home over us Lexi!" Lexi looked at her a bit awkward and looked around to check if anyone heard her name, Laurie noticed and gave her a sheepish look before she continued, "Sorry… Alexa. I guess I was just hoping that things would get better, and they never did, instead he left and they got a divorce. I was so angry, because I knew he was living the life; I know that he has a mansion and the most expensive car there is and he's probably married to a hoochie mama half younger than he is probably bathing in a hot tub filled with the most expensive champagne ever made while we were living in a middle class house with a depressed mother who didn't even had it in her to fight for the man she loved, she just let it happened, it's like she didn't even thought about us! We could've been part of his success! But no, her pride was more important than that."

Lexi knew her dad's story, and of course like every kid she suffered when they got divorced, but she got over it; her mom was always an independent woman and that's something that she always admired of her; and that's the lesson that she was trying to teach her daughters. Their father was a workaholic and while that might be good financially it wasn't good for the family, he used to leave for business trips a lot; strange phone calls appeared on his cellphone and of course his business trips eventually turned into something else; while he succeeded his marriage fell apart, there wasn't any communication between them anymore, no spark. Lexi noticed this and it saddened her, but she got over it once her mom started dating Jason, another male bunny around her age; in fact her mom has known him since her childhood days; since he was her good childhood friend, and at the end it meant well. Jason shared many things with their mom and that's something that she appreciated as she knew that her mom and dad were really opposites towards each other, she couldn't recall having a normal childhood memory that didn't involved her parents getting along; she does have the false hope that maybe in the beginning it was something lovely and beautiful but as all plants that you don't tend they decay when left unattended.

She understood why Laurie was upset and why she would take her anger on everyone around her, she found her father's actions selfish an act that only a coward would deliver. Still that didn't really give her proper reason to act the way she did, but she could see the pure regret in her eyes, specially after hearing the younger sister express herself with such hate towards her because of it. She acted wrong and she knows it, she can tell that she's been through rough patches because of who she's become to be, because of that hatred in her.

It wasn't the birthday calls or a card filled with money that Laurie wanted from her father, it was his presence, his advice, the long summer camping trips, the cookouts, his approval on dating, his speeches for getting bad grades and all things that a father usually tends to do. Jason took that place when he married Julia; their mother, but he was always hesitant whenever it came down to teaching his step daughters a lesson, he didn't feel like it was his place; it felt awkward for him, maybe because it was his first go at parenting and he was unexperienced. Lexi understood his motives for not being so strict on them, in fact he was quite caring and gave very good advice when asked to, it was Laurie that never really gave him a chance and disrespected him, reminding him constantly that he wasn't her father. And it was strange because besides everything, Laurie still praised their father as an example, she always dreamed of being as successful as he was, of course her luck hasn't been the same.

"Things happen for a reason Lo, and yeah I got upset too about what dad did; but mom has never been happier with herself. I love dad to death, even though we don't talk much… Last time I saw him was when the meteor hit and he found out about me being affected, and of course he wasn't too happy with that, he was even trying to find a specialist that could take the radiation out of me," She paused and gave a soft chuckle. "That was funny and ironic, knowing how good that's been to me, it's like he wanted to drain the success out of me." She expressed with a bit of a mixed sarcastic humor. Laurie chuckled as well.

"Well I can't say it's been the same for me… After the meteor he cut back my funds for college since I wasn't really assisting classes anymore. Basically left me out on the streets, I asked him if I could go live with him, and he said his life was too complicated to have me living with him at the moment, so naturally I ended up at mom's… It's like he's avoiding us…" She trailed off.

"Yeah, he cut mines too when he noticed I had an actual income with the team…" Added Lexi.

With all the sudden drama their appetite seemed to disappear, so they ditched on the dessert. Lexi threw their money plus tips on the table and left the restaurant with Laurie, now that the mood seemed to eased a bit their smiles returned to their faces.

"So what do you want to do now?" Asked Laurie, looking around the other restaurants.

Lexi pondered on the question for a bit before answering, "Hmm… Well we're at the biggest mall in Acmetropolis after all…" Commented Lexi, her words giving the hint of suggestion.

Laurie smiled, "Shopping it is then!" Both girls laughed at her answer as they walked towards the mall's infinite options for stores.

/

It was currently 9:30pm when the sister's were finally dismounting Lexi's hover-bike. Finally the younger sister took off her layers of coats as she entered the tower, the common room looked dark and Lexi used her super hearing to figure out what the rest of the team were up to. 2 were sleeping, 2 were in Tech's lab and one was probably in the monitor room.

They walked in front of Lexi's door and smiled at each other, "I had fun today!" Admitted Lexi.

"Yeah it was fun! Although I'm sorry for the rocky moment…" Added Laurie a bit lamely and looking at the ground in shame.

"Hey…" Said Lexi, putting a supporting hand on her sister's shoulder, "I think that was actually good for us, we opened up! We've never opened up to each other before so I think that was a mayor step up!" A soft smile on her lips.

Laurie smiled warmly at her and nodded in agreement, "Yeah I guess you're right!"

She removed her hand and pressed in her code that granted her access to her room, the door swished open and she looked back at her sister, "Alright, I'm gonna take a warm shower and hit the hay…" Expressed Lexi.

"Yeah me too it's been a long day, goodnight Lex and thanks for today!"

"You're welcome!" Replied Lexi before turning around and entering her room.

Laurie went back to her room, took a warm shower and dressed in her pajamas, but before tucking herself into bed she walked through the tower's dark hallways and into the kitchen for a glass of water. She sat alone on the table as she finished her glass, finally refreshing her throat from the hard and exhausting day with her sister, and she couldn't help but wonder about the day's event's how things went from good to wrong in only mere seconds; it just all confirmed to her that even though things are looking good for them some things might still be a little tense to deal with, and as much as she hated it they had to work on that and bring back the subject eventually…

Her thoughts were interrupted by heavy footsteps and a tired sigh, which made her jump in her seat and look towards the direction of the sound. A tired Ace still in uniform walked into the kitchen, finally noticing the other being present in the kitchen, he smiled tiredly at her.

"Oh you girls finally made it back!" He said, walking towards the fridge; opening it and taking out a plastic container out, he opened the lid gave it a light sniff and placed it in the microwave to heat.

"Uh… Yeah." Responded Laurie sheepishly while she nervously rubbed her arm. Why was she nervous around him? Yeah he was someone she found very attractive, but he was off limits to her, she knew that and Lexi made it very clear to her. "Snap out of it!" She whispered to herself, causing Ace to quirk an eyebrow at her.

"What?" He asked confusedly.

She blushed when she realized that her not so quiet words were actually loud enough for him to hear, he must think she's insane or something. "Oh! Umm… Nothing! I'm ok!" She tried.

The microwave beeped and Ace turned around to retrieve his food, he grabbed some silverware from a drawer and took a seat next to Laurie, still giving her a confused look. "So…" He started, trying to change the subject and hopefully get rid of the strange awkwardness that currently lingered around them, "Did you girls have fun?"

Laurie took a sip of her water and nodded before answering, "Yeah, we had lunch, then hung around the mall for a bit; we even watched a movie!" She replied happily.

Ace smiled at her, taking a bite of his food and nodding in approval.

Laurie looked at him a bit confused, "Say… If you don't mind asking, why are you still in uniform? And is that your dinner? This late?" She asked.

He chuckled a bit at her assumptions, "I'm leader, I don't think I have like a proper bedtime set up… I was in surveillance watch when you girls left, and I decided to catch up on some paperwork while I was on it. Just got out actually! And yes, this is my dinner."

"Wow, life is hard on you huh?" She commented.

He gave her a careless shrug, "It's what I like to do, I knew it wasn't going to be easy… But it's all worth it though, to me it's all about the safety of this city and making sure the team is up to it's game and most importantly safe."

She knew she shouldn't but she couldn't help it, "Specially my sister?" She asked a bit timidly.

Ace was currently chewing on his food when her words escaped her lips and he almost choked at the question causing him to cough a bit. He managed to swallow and immediately gave her a look, "What?" He asked, forcing a soft chuckle along the way to try and hide his sudden nervousness. He might be the fearless leader of the Loonatics but he went a little weak in the knees whenever it came down to Lexi.

Laurie just stared at him expectantly and blinked, "What's so funny?" She inquired a bit confused, and wondering if he would also give her a hard time like Lexi did to her earlier.

"Well… What to do mean 'Specially your sister'?" He asked, hoping that she didn't suspect a thing.

"Are you serious?!" She asked surprised.

"Well what about your her?" He asked, trying to play it casually.

"Oh come on Ace! I think it's a bit obvious what's going on here, and please don't pull the 'We're just really close friends' card on me! I know there's something more!" She said, crossing her arms.

He put his silverware down and chuckled a bit impressed by her words, "But we really are _just_ best friends though…" He added.

"But?"

"But what? That's it!" He replied.

"Seriously? Come on Ace, just say it! Besides you're totally predictable around her, and Duck spilled the beans on you today so there! Now admit it! I just want to hear it from you!" She said in an almost pleading tone.

Ace just sat there in silence, staring at his plate with surprise, "Wow… Well I knew the cons of Duck knowing something so deep from me, but am I really that predictable around her?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her in curiosity.

"Yes! You look at her differently and the way you two interact it's different than just your average friend, and yeah Duck totally told on you." She said chuckling at her words.

"Yeah… A blabber mouth if you ask me!" He added carelessly, "So… Uh… Hehe, I know this would seem a little bit out of place but… Do you notice the same from her?"

Laurie giggled at his question, not really knowing why; maybe it was his sudden shyness about the subject, "My sister is a little hard headed that's for sure…" She commented, leaving Ace a bit confused at her comment. "I can tell she likes you… And I don't mean just plain like you, you're special to her and she cares a lot for you." She gave him a warm smile.

Ace smiled warmly at the information, "Has she said anything about the subject or is it just you?" He asked curiously.

"Hmm? No it's just things I noticed…" She replied.

"Oh… ok." He replied, not really sure if he should continue with the subject or not. "Well since we're talking about Lexi… I know you two have a rough relationship, sorry to intrude but how's that working out with both of you?"

Laurie was a bit taken aback by his words, and now she realized how close Ace and Lexi really were with their friendship; she had to admit it felt a little uncomfortable and intruding to hear Ace ask her such a thing, she would've thought that their problems was something Lexi would want to keep hidden, but seeing as Ace knows about it just made her feel a bit uneasy. "Wow you two really are close!" She commented with a bit of sarcasm while furrowing her eyebrows, she sighed before she continued, "It's been getting better, I mean there are some bumps on the road, but nothing overly dramatic…" She paused and bit her lower lip, "I regret what I did to her in the past, and I wish more than anything to change that original image of me she has plastered in her brain; but it's too late for that now huh? So instead I'm just trying to win her trust little by little. We made some progress today; we talked a lot about our past's touchy subjects and issues… But it was ok I guess, it's better to let it out than keeping in right?"

Ace gave her a pitiful look and nodded, silently agreeing with her words, "Seems like you need to work a lot of things out…" He started, Laurie glanced at him and nodded, "You know… I know Lexi like the palm of my hand, after all she's my best friend. I can probably help you out when it comes to making her open up more…" He offered.

"How?"

"Well… Don't tell her I told you this, but she was a bit hesitant when you first called, I kind of talked her into giving you a chance. She was a bit paranoid this morning about you being here, I guess she wasn't used to having you around and… Well You know I've been convincing her otherwise. I may not know you Laurie, but I can tell you mean no harm."

She gave him a kind smile for his words, "Thanks… And I don't, I promise!" She reassured lifting her hands to her chest as a gesture of honesty, "But… Since you're going to help me with my sister… How about I help you with her as well?"

Ace furrowed his eyebrows and chuckled a bit at her suggestion, "Please, I don't think I need any help…" Which only caused Laurie to give him a blank unconvinced look. "Well… Ok maybe some pointers might help, I may know her but I know shit about how to swift her off her feet!" He lamely admitted, causing Laurie to chuckle at his words.

"Ok! It's a deal then!" Added Laurie extending a deal ending hand towards him.

He smiled, took it and shook it, "It was nice doing business with you Laurie." He joked.

"Please, call me Lo…" She replied with modesty.

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**If you read! Please review! Please and Thank You! :)**


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